This is Who We Are
by RKT-MMC
Summary: When the lost past catches up with the present, old and new enemies form pact. The predecessors meets prodigies, ancient meets modern. As a brewing darkness spreads, new bridge of allies is formed once more to stand against the darkness. They are the predecessors. They are ROCK. (Updates with series) R&R is really appreciated! :3
1. Prologue

_Three years before the current prodigies of Beacon, stood a team of four extraordinary Huntsman and Huntresses in training._  
><em>A pair of siblings with a shady background, a strange girl with powered of ice and a girl who plays with fire.<em>  
><em>They have no identity with them, save for their names and time at Beacon.<em>  
><em>Mysterious as they are, their powers are beyond comparison.<em>  
><em>Personalities clashing one another and mixed powers, it's a wonder how they get along.<em>  
><em>They are Beacon's most respected and renowned team.<em>  
><em>And they are about to embark on one of the journeys that involve trials that put their bonds to the test, blood being spilt and minds being lost.<em>  
><em>All for the sake of finding their true identities.<em>  
><em>They are legend.<em>  
><em>They are ROCK.<em>

_And sweet mother of god are they are a crazy bunch._

* * *

><p>Hello there! This is our first story, and is revolved mostly on a group of OC's.<br>**Disclaimer:** RWBY is to RT not us. (Oh how I wish)

**WARNING:** There will be pranks, natural disasters, yuri (Don't like don't read), gore, heavy violence.  
>(Someone let me know if I go too far in these categories to put the rating from T - M)<p>

**R&R please :)**

Have a wonderful day!


	2. Odds and Ends

**AN/** Hello, this is our first story so go easy on us please :3 R&R if anything is wrong Thank you!

RWBY belongs to RT as ROCK belongs to us :)

* * *

><p>"Sister!" A voice rang out in the crowd of students. A tall and stocky young man with short, cropped black hair that had bangs cover his right eye, revealing the dashing gray eye. He was shouting in the standard Beacon uniform to another person not too far from him. "Akaia!"<p>

The person turned, with mirrored hairstyles and eye, not as buff as he was, but was close in their massive height that loomed over most students, she too, wore a Beacon male uniform. Bags under her tired gray eyes were evident on her lighter skin, along with a scar that went across her cheek.

"Finally, caught up with you." The young man paused in front of his sister, who merely sighed and rolled the gray eye.

"Rio," Akaia's husky voice came from her. "Already afraid of losing me on the first day?"

Rio scoffed and pulled out his covered book- probably on the history of mythical creatures of something.

"More like the icy princess and the wrecking ball." Rio muttered reading his book, dodging students in their way. Akaia gave a short chuckle, nearly running into a deer faunus, and as usual, apologized.

"Pardon, my bad." Akaia gave a sincere and curt nod at the faunus who smiled back at her. They kept walking down the busy halls, pass a red head, that totally stands out in the crowd and someone roughly shoved Akaia, making her crash into a marble pillar.

"Oops," A young man with red hair in his uniform snickered at her. "Sorry, thought you were one of those freaks."

Akaia gave a dry laugh, her back cracking as she straightened herself.

"Ha ha, very funny there." Akaia spoke with a slight Germanic accent, on purpose. Rio placed his book into his pocket and sighed, the mirrored siblings raising their heads at the red haired man. "Don't want to get that face of yours ruined now do you, lad?"

"Hey, you don't wanna fight now-" Akaia's fist already made contact with his face already, sending him to make a new window to the upper floors.

"Piss off." Akaia started walking away, as Rio followed. Crowds of students began to gather where the poor bastard landed outside, and the hole in the wall. No one suspected them at all as they walked in the opposite direction.

"And this is our second year as ROCK." Rio chuckled, slapping his sister on the back. Akaia sighed again before remembering that she leaded them, the K in ROCK. Rio pulled out his book again and buried his face into it. "Brighten up sis, we all took on a giant Ursa together and kicked it's arse in like five minutes."

Akaia shrugged and looked at the world with tired eyes, and a blank expression.

"I guess." Akaia said, running her hand through her short hair, revealing the gray eye and exhaled.

"Speaking of so, where's the hell is Mel?" Akaia said, Rio merely shrugged.

"Training maybe?" Rio looked up from his book. Surprisingly, his intimidating form made people think twice as he reads a book almost all the time. Unlike Akaia, who also has the intimidating stare, but rather gentle.

"Gear?" Akaia smirked, and Rio slapped his book shut, mirroring the grin his older sister had.

* * *

><p>A white haired girl with faded blue robes and hammered silver plating blocked a fireball with a flick of her hand, sending ice shooting out and divert the blow as she lunged her long sword at a tan trenchcoat clad girl with large silver, flaming gauntlets. Her eyes covered by a visor piece as she kicked her opponent, revealing the burgundy shorts, armored boots and knee pads. Steam hissed as fire and ice met, momentarily blinding the icy girl as she whipped around to see the girl launched at her. She had dark brown hair that reached the middle of her back, the bangs naturally red like her eyes. A grin plastered on the face as the gauntlets met a ice shield, shockwaves rocked the room as they exchanged blows.<p>

Grace and precision against reckless and precision.

"Can't keep up with these moves, Cyres?" The red streaked girl taunted, round kicking the robed girl, who grunted and threw ice spikes at her.

"You mean-" Cyres threw more ice and flipped over her opponent, bringing she shield down onto her back, knocking her down. "Not so hot now are you, Mel?"  
>Mel grumbled and kicked Cyres off, making the ice girl land on her back.<p>

"I'm not rough, but I'm just as steamy as dry-"Cyres roll her eyes under the visor and uppercut the fiery girl with her shield.

"Berk." Cyres said in a slightly English accent, brushing off her well kept robes. She lifted up the visor to reveal the slight pointed ears she had and brilliant icy blue eyes.

"Arse." Mel stuck her tongue out at the half elf.

"You are one immature-" Cyres was cut off as the door opened, letting Akaia and Rio walk in with their gear on. Akaia wore her usual dark gray hoodie and jeans that had ebony steel plates screwed into the fabric, her hands adorned with twin clawed gauntlets, her feet clad in metal, but it did not hinder her walking pace at all. Her shoulders adorned with hinged, segmented pauldrons. It seemed like there was a pale red glow behind the plates.

Rio had a lighter gray hoodie with dark gray steel hammered, but had a neck guard and larger pauldrons attached to his shoulders. Very similar to his sister in uniform and gear wear, he had thick gauntlets and a baton in his back.

"Thought I find you two in here." Akaia said, smiling kindly, Rio only kept his face in a book- again.

"Wanna join?" Mel asked, interrupting Cyres as she was about to speak. Akaia nodded, cracking her neck.

Cyres and Rio stood on the side, watching as Akaia and Mel- both extremely close and ranged combaters took their place on the mat.

"No dirty tricks allowed." Cyres glared at Mel, who pouted and rolled her eyes at Cyres.

"Aw, that's no fun at all." Mel grinned, unsheathing her twin gunblades, Akami and Zakio, the steel was molted as it it was fresh out of the forge. Vulcan, her large gauntlets flared to life.

Akaia cracked her neck and her tri-blades unsheathed above her knuckles, serrated and the plates began sliding under her arm, shifting into a rather large cannon, smoking as it was done with it's transformation, Leviathan, and Behemoth, seems fitting for the massive size of her weapons now.

"Kiss the ground Mel," Akaia gave a cocky smirk. "Cause you are going to."

Akaia flickered before dissolving into her shadow, right as Mel punched through her.

Mel was caught in the feeling of limbo when her fist went through the dissolving body, only for hard boots to slam into her back, sending her face-down into the mat.

Akaia backflipped off her back mid-kick, firing Behemoth and then finding a sword inches from her neck, and then a knee to her face, throwing into the padded walls.

Mel had a victorious smirk as the smoke filled the impact.

"More like you Akaia." Mel smirked as the smoke cleared- to find no one, but a rather deep indentation. "What the-"  
>Akaia bursted from under her, giving her a taste of adeptanium and dust laced metal. Mel blocked the blow- knocking Akami from her hand as she struck her shadow warping leader. She locked their gauntlets and smashed Akaia's abdomen with three quick punches like a boxer with his target locked.<p>

But Akaia suddenly flipped herself with a twist of her body. In mid-jump, her leg latching on Mel's arm as her other leg caught her on the side of her head, throwing the girl aside, stunning her.

Mel swung at Akaia, who ducked and swerved behind Mel and dropped and swept the flaming girl off her feet.

"One for Akaia!" Akaia shouted as she warped out of a drop kick.

Mel blocked a kick from Akaia and jumped over a swipe and twisted her body, using her momentum to smash the side of Akaia's in the face, jerking her head aside and sending her back.

Mel smirked at her ending move, but soon faded as Akaia's leg hooked her neck as she did a handstand and flipped them both over.

"Look who's gonna get a migraine after this…" Akaia muttered as she laid there, clutching her blackened cheek. Mel gave a thumbs up as she was still face-down in the mat.

"Good job you two," Cyres giggled as they pushed themselves up, nursing the bruises or split lips they had. Cyres sighed and snapped her fingers, creating two hand sized ice chunks above her fingertips and threw them at the two brawlers. "Now go ice yourselves before you end up with swollen faces."

Cyres looked at Rio, and nodded as they walked onto the matted floor.

"No dirty tricks you two." Mel teased, making Cyres roll her eyes under the metal and glass strip. Cyres unsheathed her pommel and hilt, her semblance already kicking in as the water in the air crystallized through the hilt, forging a longer than average blade made of pure ice, Icentooth. Her left hand crackled as her powers danced around her wielding hands as she rolled her light steel cladded shoulders, the segmented breastplate oiled and glistening like ice.

Rio unstrapped his baton on his back, and twirled it around a little like a staff. While in the rotations, the metal staff hissed as the plates unlatched and slid into locking positions carved in the metal. The length doubled in size as he ran it around his body, the blades, shaped af the rotation with the help of his semblance before slamming it to the ground, Vanquisher. A vanquisher indeed when he gave Vanquisher a final swing, the energy forged blades vaporizing the broken bits floating in the air.

"Ready." They both shouted to the two bruised members on the side. Rio pulled the full face visor over to cover his face.

Akaia raised her cannon arm into the air and fired, causing the room to vibrate a little of the massive trajectory power and recoil in those weapons of hers.

Cyres, being the speedier of the two, decided to strike first with a ranged attack, by summoning large icicles and shooting them towards Rio. He merely grunted and swung his massive poleax to deflect and cleave the ice, barely making a dent or scratch on his weapon. His graceful rotations cut through the air with little to no sound as he inched his way to Cyres, who charged at him and hit his visor with the tip of her sword. Before her attack could delve deeper and furthermore break the protecting visor, he brought Vanquisher up to latch onto one of the segments of her armor to whip her around and smash her to the ground. He readied the serrated blades on one end to jab down, expecting her defeated body to lay. Instead, within less than a second, she had somersaulted away from his move.

Despite Rio's quick reflexes much like his sister's, they proved futile against Cyres's much speedier recovery time span. He pointed the other side of Vanquisher towards her, then firing several rounds as she circled around the area, his massive bullets implanting themselves into the two feet thick concrete walls. Cyres only glanced for a second to see his bullet travel straight through, then stopped to conjure an elaborate ice shield, only to be broken by the next round. She leaped up, springing herself forward to launch at Rio. He spun Vanquisher to clash with Cyres's seemingly delicate ice blade, before they both slid away by sheer force. Rio dug Vanquisher into the ground to stay on his feet and Cyres stayed low, keeping her central balance focused. Rio's much more hulking form allowed Cyres to be the first to charge with her weapon in front. She summoned more icy spiked around her, serving as a barrier. Rio recovered soon after Cyres had hit her three quarters mark in her precise charge towards him and brought Vanquisher down in a calculated strike to knock Icentooth from her hand. She returned the move with a swift kick to his head, causing him to shake the daze from his double vision. He blinked, then saw Cyres pick up her blade, which soon clashed with his again to be thrown into the air once again. She held up her arms, then Rio stepped towards her with Vanquisher pointed towards her. They both smiled and Cyres quickly ducked and rammed into him, making them both land onto the matted floor.

Mel giggled when Cyres landed on top of Rio, then quickly rolled off. They joined their friends who lay on their backs, panting hard.

"N_ice _move Cyres." Mel grinned before wiping sweat from her brow. "Your moves blew me away Rio, just like that wall."

She jabbed her thumb to the wall, which had several holes in it.

"Very funny Mel." They both said with a smile, then glancing at each other. Rio lifted his visor and looked around with his grey eyes, rimmed with red.

"Good job you two." Akaia said to them.

Rio patted Cyres's back, as she lifted her glass visor, and insert it back into her breastplate.

"So what now." Cyres re did her hair into her center and high ponytail. She looked at Mel, who had a swollen jaw now from Akaia's lock-and-eject punches.

"Food!" Mel said, latching onto Akaia back, wrapping her legs around her waist, making Akaia's face flush. And then promptly was dragged by the energetic girl on her back. "To the cafeteria!"

"W-wait we have to change!" They heard Akaia shouting in the halls.

Rio and Cyres shook their heads before walking out after them.

* * *

><p>They were back at the dorm, somewhat messy and strewn with gears and metal on the ground, the bunks were neat at least. Red blankets and white pillows on mahogany wood, embedded in the wall by Cyres's eternal ice. They shared two tables, behind a large gothic style window with white curtains.<p>

Akaia laid down on her low bunk, in her male uniform, fiddling with the red tie she wore before Rio sat on the table, slipping the blazer on and adjusting the cufflinks as they waited for the two ladies.

They can hear crashing and giggling on the other side of the door before Cyres walked out, her hand covered in ice as she huffed and waited next to Rio.

"Idiot, insufferable," She leaned on the door frame and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Bloody hell…"

And right on cue, Mel walked out with a grin on her face, a mischievous one in fact of her usual grin.

"What did you do this time?" Akaia sighed and sat up- only for Mel to belly flop on her. Mel giggled again and poked Akaia's nose with a smile before leaping off her partner.

"Let's not worry about it." She said confidently.

"I am actually more worried about it now." Akaia said with a smirk as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"I just jumped on her and she got scared." Mel grinned. "Oh, your makeup is still smudged."

Mel walked up to Cyres, who backed away.

"Cyres is wearing makeup?" Akaia raised an eyebrow, then looked over to Rio, who was busy staring at Cyres, trying to spot it on his own.

"Yeah, she was putting it on when I-" Cyres grabbed the back of her neck hastily.

"Quiet Mel!" She hissed, her cheeks slowly becoming more rosy. Mel, on the other hand, was laughing as Cyres urged her to keep quiet.

"She said it was for-" Cyres clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling Mel's words. Rio stared at them curiously.

"Let's just get to class." Cyres sighed and released her teammate, then smoothed out her skirt. Mel smiled and beckoned Akaia to follow. They walked down the dull dorm hallways, which soon led to the pristine hallways of Beacon, ornate with gorgeous drapery and red roll out carpet, lined with gold trim. Antique chandeliers hung from the taller roof, designed much like that of a cathedral.

"So what do we have first?" Mel looked at her blue colored schedule.

"Grimm Biology." Rio responded calmly. Mel groaned as they reached the large double doors of their first class. The large classroom- or rather lecture hall was designed rather simply, with a frontal desk and two chalkboards, and several rows of desks bent into a curve. A few students had already taken their seats, and ROCK travelled to the center of the room, mostly away from other students. Mel, however, took a seat next to a fair haired boy who was busy fixing his tie.

"Hey, I'm Mel." She winked at him, making Akaia sigh behind her. The boy smiled at her and took out paper and a pencil. Mel looked over at Akaia, who tugged at her sleeve.

"Class is going to start soon, stop messing around." Akaia hinted at the students who slowly began to file into the room and extract their materials for class. However, the teacher was still nowhere to be found despite the little time they had before the start of class.

"Aw, come on Akaia, have some fun. Don't be so jealous." Mel laughed and nudged Akaia, making her roll her eyes.

"Mel." Cyres warned, slapping the girl with her pencil. Mel was about to bite back when the bell rang, as some other students ran in.

Akaia's face frowned when the guy with red hair ran in with his team. Rio noticed her sister's frown and placed a hand on her broad shoulders.

And then the redhead jumped on the professor's desk and started to twerk.

"Someone's off their rockers on this fine day." Cyres crossed her arms across her chest.

"And I wonder where his wrecking ball is today." Rio mumbled as Mel tried to contain her laugh. Akaia just sighed and watched as a short man with gray hair and a thick moustache wearing burgundy coat and slacks walk in to see the red-head making a fool of himself by shaking his ass for the world to see.

"Young man." His deep and loud voice rang out, scaring the crap out of the boy. He placed his hands behind his back and spoke in a loud voice. "Keep that up young man and you will find it at the Headmaster's office."

Akaia gave a laugh, making the redhead glare at her, enticing a mental fight.

"You wanna go again?" He taunted Akaia. Who only scoffed and rolled her eye, baring her overly long fangs at him.

"Try." She grinned. His face grew red like his hair from anger. "Here and now in this fine morning and class?"

"Yes!" He shouted at her, his fist raised. Akaia was about to put this pettish taunt aside, but he flipped her off, catching her attention. "Here and now!"

The rest of ROCK looked at her, as well as the teacher and the students.

"If the Professor Port over there says yes." Akaia grinned. She can sense the excitement in the air.

And the short and old professor only stood there, before nodding.

"Well, we can demonstrate proper fighting styles." He said simply and beckoned to the ring. Akaia's half-ass grin grew almost like a maniac. She stood from her seat and cleared over the two rows in a single jump, landing in front of the redhead, a head taller than he is. They threw the blazer and ties they wore aside, leaving them in the dress shirts.

"Your move." Akaia gave a bow at the waist, a unseen grin forming. "Miles."

He responded with a clamoring, thunderous charge towards Akaia, who easily sidestepped and kicked her feet low to the ground, sweeping him from his feet. He landed face first, earning a short laugh from the audience.

"Yeah Akaia!" Akaia heard Mel shout to her. He scrambled up, and dashed head on, where Akaia smashed her hand into his solar plexus and flipped him over after grabbing his legs, smashing his back to the ground. Professor Port gave a cough and walked up to the board.

"Thank you Kilan, now take a seat." He began to draw the day's lesson's onto the board, maintaining his indifferent composure. He related their lesson to key points of their rather short brawl and upon returning to her seat, Mel wrapped her arms around her for a congratulatory hug.

"Nice!" Mel whispered gave her a thumbs up.

The remainder of the dreary class rolled along, ending with a long bell and the hurrid packing of the students. ROCK began to return to their dorm room to spend the rest of their day working on homework and such, as well as perfecting their fighting in accordance to the lessons learned today. Akaia was one of the last to leave after slowly packing her things. She stepped outside and felt someone's hand close around hers and yank her to the side, causing her to nearly stumble at the sudden movements.

"Mel?" She looked at her shorter partner.

"Wanna go to Vale?" She grinned, and had already began tugging Akaia in the direction.

"We have homework you know." Akaia said, trying to resist Mel's persistence.

"We can do homework at the ice cream parlor. Come on, it will be fun!" Mel turned to her with a smile. "We can also take a look at the new weapon store, I think it's opening today."

* * *

><p>They entered a almost empty ice cream parlor, the aroma of all the flavors hit Akaia's nose as Mel was already ahead of her, ordering. She was picking reds, greens, whites, and odd flavors with coloring as Akaia ordered a single scoop of caramel sea salt ice cream.<p>

Sitting down at a table, Akaia was already reviewing her assignments. Mel was busy savoring the large bowl of ice cream as she watched Akaia lose herself in the information. Mel shrugged and took out her own notes, which were messily shoved into her textbook and began reading random parts aimlessly. She finished her bowl, then took Akaia's after they had both finished and returned to see Akaia still focused on her work. She took her things and moved it to the other side of the table and plopped herself down next to Akaia in the booth they occupied. Akaia looked down at Mel, who smiled at her and opened her book again.

Mel moved closer to Akaia before she rested her head on Akaia's shoulder, where the larger girl tensed up and look down at Mel.

"What are you-" Akaia's face flushed again as they drew stares from the people there. "You're giving us unwanted attention."

"Meh." Mel replied, shrugging and took out a pen and began copying Akaia's notes as she can. Akaia chuckled at her antics and snaked a hand to her side, causing the girl to erupt in laughter.

"S-stop." Mel said between breaths before planting her hands on Akaia's chest and pushing her away, making the older one chuckle.

"Anyways." Akaia re-adjusted her red tie. "Back to the notes."

Mel nodded and yawned and looked at the messy notes, her hand reaching for it when Akaia's hand landed on top of hers.

"S-sorry." They both said, jerking their hands away. Akaia fiddled with her tie again and Mel turned to grab her pencil, both of them blushing slightly. Akaia looked around, noticing many smiles and glances from other customers. ROCK was certainly one of the more respected groups in Beacon, quickly climbing through the ranks in a matter of a little more than a year- but to Akaia, now they saw two members fooling around in an ice cream parlor. She cleared her throat and felt her cheeks burn even more at the numerous glances they earned.

"They must work well together." Akaia heard someone whisper from behind her as Mel was busy copying her notes.

"Maybe more than partners-" Akaia stood and turned around to glare at the two girls behind them.

"We're not-" She felt Mel poke her and look at her with a worried glance.

"Uhm… Akaia…" She looked around the parlor to realize that everyone was staring at her, then whipped around to smash her head onto the table for doing something as stupid as Mel would do, leaving an indent in the metal. She packed her things in a flash, just throwing everything into her backpack, along with Mel's belongings.

"Hey-" Akaia grabbed Mel's hand and rushed out of the shop, towards the more secluded park.

"Why'd you leave?" Mel looked at Akaia's back.

"Everyone was staring at us." She threw her backpack against a tree when they arrived at the park, which was just around the corner. She sat down, then felt Mel's heat radiating body sit next to her.

"Why'd you panic?" Mel looked at her while her gaze occasionally drifted to the clouds floating by. Akaia cleared her throat and looked at Mel.

"Embarrassment…" Akaia muttered, her face flushing with embarrassment. Mel grinned and tackled them both off the bench, thankfully the park was emptier than usual with Akaia landing on top of Mel. They blushed as Akaia reeled back, their notes forgotten as she felt Mel tackle her onto the soft grass, and using her as a pillow.

"I'm getting sleepy…" Mel sighed, not getting off of Akaia, as she had a wonderful view of a face full of hair.

"Yes, I can tell…" Akaia said in her usual bland tone. Mel's finger made her body spark as her fingers ran over her shoulder. "About the notes…"

"Later." Mel said as she snuggled against Akaia, who was still pinned by the girl. Akaia sighed and grabbed her notes and a pencil, and began filling them in for the girl to copy later.

"Anyone seen the two?" Rio walked into the dorm as Cyres was busy scribbling notes in her usual perfect cursive handwriting. The white haired girl shook her head as she flipped a page.

Rio, being done minutes ago, began fixing up hot chocolate for the rest of them as the sun went down.

"Well, I'm going to shower then." Rio cracked his back before going to the dwars and then to the bathroom. Cyres only nodded and closed her book when she finally finished- minutes later.

"And I already took one." Cyres slipped into her sleeping attire, faded blue t-shirt and shorts. She did a few stretches before climbing up the ice ladder to her bunk over Rio's, and reached to the ice table attached to the ice frame.

She opened her book on the table and began reading on history.

For what seemed like hours Rio was in the shower, he came out with only a light gray towel to protect his modesty as he got out. Flaunting his chiseled and standing out and, a delectable body and light tan skin. He is quite lean and buff for his size. And Cyres just happened to look over at him. She felt her face burn as she looked back down at her book, staring at him out of her peripheral vision. She found herself reading the same passage repeatedly as she glanced at Rio.

"It's getting late, they should be back soon." Rio said as he walked over to his bed, allowing Cyres to obtain an even better view of his body. She blushed more and held her book up higher to hide her face.

"Y-yes, they should be getting back soon." Cyres nearly punched herself for repeating his sentence. She looked up to see that Rio had changed into the lower half of his nightwear and turned to her as he slipped his shirt on. He ruffled his hair a bit and blinked at Cyres, who had been staring at him the entire time, practically.

"You okay?" He asked, skeptical about her unusual nature at the moment.

"Y-yes, perfectly fine." She smiled shortly before burying her face in her book again.

"I just realized your hair is down, it looks nice." She looked up to see Rio's smile, then blushed.

"Thank you." She grinned more against her book.

And then the door swung open to a messy Akaia, carrying Mel in her arms before dumping her on Akaia's bed. She ran a hand through her hair, revealing a red iris in the gray of her eye.

"Jeez, this girl…" Akaia grabbed her nightwear and stuff before going towards the bathroom. "Can't keep her hands off me."

"Well, you got a hot one." Rio shouted, teasing his older sister, who flipped him in response.

"Screw you." Akaia shouted back, both chuckling.

Akaia got out ten minutes later, in tank and boxer briefs. Rio laid in his bed, before looking at her.

"Let's put some briefs on sis." Rio said, Akaia threw the wet towel around her neck at him.

"Oh piss off." Akaia joked, before laying on the bed Mel was dumped on by her.

She shook the sleeping girl awake, or tried to. And resulted in a method of grabbing a chunk of ice and dumping it down Mel's shirt.

"You have to take a shower, idiot." Akaia sighed as Mel literally jumped ten feet in the air at the ice on her back. She landed on Akaia and latched herself onto her body, making Akaia flush slightly at her movements.

"The shower's over there." Akaia tried to pry Mel off of her, but her attempt were futile to Mel's iron grip.

"Right." She jumped off and sped her way to the shower and slammed the door behind her.

"So what were you doing out so late?" Rio raised an eyebrow. Akaia cleared her throat and looked around the room a little before answering.

"We were studying." Akaia said to her brother.

After nearly twenty minutes, Mel hopped out of the shower in her nightwear. She dove onto her bed and smashed her head into her pillow.

"Goodnight guys." Mel looked around to see that everyone had situated, Rio and Cyres on one side and her and Akaia on the other. She turned off the light, since it was closest to her bunk.

* * *

><p>ps- sorry for the long chapter... - RKT<p> 


	3. Scuffle and Run

The next morning was uneventful as Mel decided to fall off the top bunk and land unceremoniously on the floor, waking them all up. Akaia groaned as she turned, glaring at the girl who fell off the bed. Rio and Cyres stirred not long after, the dubbed princess glaring menacingly at the girl who woke her from her beauty sleep.

"What in the blazes are you doing?" Cyres glared through tired eyes. "Waking us up at eight on a Saturday? Are you off your rockers?"

Mel only gave a thumbs up, while being face down on the hardwood floor.

"Dandy, and I'm just blazing on the floor." Mel muttered as embers sparked on her body. Rio just looked at his older sister, who just threw a pillow at Mel's head.

"_Gehen wieder schlafen, Mädchen…_" Akaia muttered in her blankets. And roughly translating to 'Go back to sleep, girl'.

"Or we can go for a day in Vale?" Mel lifted her head, a grin plastered on her face. Only to receive blank stares from the remaining group members.

"In another hour." They a replied, turning the other way to gain more sleep.

About one and a half hours later the group was busy eating in the cafeteria in casual clothing, not the uniforms. Akaia had dark gray jeans and a black, sleeveless vest, and gray work boots. While Rio wore a lighter gray hoodie and white jeans and gray work boots. Both having their symbol, the three claws, printed on the left shoulder.

Mel wore a simple red and gray fire patterned hooded vest. Cyres wore a simple faded blue blouse and a pair of short shorts, topped with a dark blue track hoodie. Her symbol- a dragon's claw was proudly placed on her right shoulder.

As usual, Mel was busy devouring pancakes and The rest was eating sweet clustered cereal.

"Where to after this?" Akaia asked Mel, who shrugged. The other two had no response. "Since you won't answer, we will have a parkour run."

Oddly everyone in ROCK enjoyed that activity.

Parkour, their best known sport, pastime and training. Would spend at least a day running around, while helping the city out, and help anyone.

And like any other day, visit the run-down places and help the poor as they can.

Having a good reputation in the city led them to have many advantages- such as discounts at the ice cream parlors or restaurants.

They started from Beacon, and began by leaping over the rails and into the city below, over shops and rooftops, waving at the people below.

A daily or seldom activity they all enjoyed doing as they would, beside training in the gym, they would race to the Emerald Cliffs- far away from the city life, with just running.

How they can handle it is a question.

But they used to do this almost every day and running long distances are a challenge, but once they would reach the majestic cliffside, it was a sight to behold. And the best part is that there is no on to find, since it was at the top of a high mountain.

Red and green forests as the eye can see, herds of wild Grimm horses and Grimm roaming. A great river would travel through the forest and plain.

And training on the cliff was a best spot because it can train them to ignore distractions in the background. Honing their skills in the serene environment.

But while jumping over the city, they spotted a large crowd and shouting and screaming.

"What's that over there." Cyres pointed, gaining their full and undivided attention. Making a detour, they landed on a slanted roof of a jewelry shop, looking into the screaming mass.

"See anything out of the usual?" Mel asked as they hid behind the large sign. Her ruby eyes glaring under the red and gray fire patterned hooded best.

"_Ich rieche Blut_ ..." Rio said as he threw his hood over his head like his sister. "Right sis? You smell it too?"

Akaia nodded.

"Faunus peace protest gone wrong." Cyres said as they saw the mangled bodies of the clashing ethnic groups. They turned to Akaia.

"Sis, _etwas stimmt hier nicht._" Rio said to her in German, where Akaia was only a statue, caught in the moment of decisions.

"Bloody hell..." Cyres gaped in horror as a body of a rabbit Faunus fell to the ground, head split open. Bloody hell indeed.

"Akaia?" Mel tugged the hooded leader's sleeveless vest.

And then gunfire from a human on the side drew their attention. And he shot down another protester. And then seemed to look at them and raised the rifle at Akaia's standing form.

A bullet grazed her neck, creating a hole in her vest.

And it prompted a reaction from Akaia, who formed Leviathan and it shifted automatically into its cannon formats she raised it and fired, creating a loud boom and an earthquake with it. The poor bastard was missing his arm now, dissolved by the Earthshaker round. ROCK was immediately armed as they landed on the street across from the fight. Everyone turned to see the four with weapons raised. Before anyone can speak, the man was screaming at his lost limb and pointed the gun at Akaia, where Cyres erected a ice barrier in time to block the bullet. Cyres brought the barrier down for Mel to fire a fire bullet, contacting the gun barrel, melting it. And the. She ducked as Rio fired a beam from of raw energy from Vanquisher, neatly decapitating the said man.

"Enough!" Akaia roared as ROCK fanned out, their trained eyes on the look for sudden movements.

"You killed an innocent man!" One woman shouts from the silent crowd.

"A 'innocent' man with a gun and shooting it into an unarmed crowd!" Cyres shouted, ice dancing at her fingertips and around her.

"Murderers!"

"Faunus sympathizers!"

Akaia raised her gauntlet in the air and fired, the bullet fueled by her anger as the ground shook violently, more so than the last.

"Do not, make me think twice." Akaia's voice was deathly quiet. A threat clearly heard, but the ignorant humans was blind to see. The human part only glared at them, thinking something is up. Incoherent babbling spread wide across the crowd, which was silenced by another cannonfire from Akaia.

"What are you? Part of the White Fang?" A man spat the last words from his mouth, defiling them. Akaia frowned as did the others and grabbed the man by the collar, lifting him a few inches off the ground.

"We are ROCK, and justice is our purpose- you despise the White Fang, yet they will be far better fighter than you will ever be with that mouth of yours. Do I need to blow a hole through her your head to make you understand that justice is all we strive towards?" Akaia threw him down to be caught by the front row of people.

"This man killed your own kind, is he the one you are willing to spend your energy on to defend his dead body?" Cyres looked into the crowd, which had remained somewhat calm for several moments, mostly likely from the intimidatingly angry team in front of them, weapons hoisted for an attack at any moment.

"Piss off jocks."

"This is a waste of time."

"I don't need to hear the shit that they talk about." The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving Akaia to angrily watch them leave as they returned to their prior activities. Mel clapped a hand to her shoulder.

"How could they just brush that off so easily?" Akaia growled, looking at the many Faunus walking around, as well as the two that lay on the floor.

"It's sickening." Cyres looked around.

"I'll say." Mel nodded. She looked into the jewelry shop that the front window had been smashed to bits and the old man inside stood helplessly, lost in his next moves. "Let's go in there."

Mel led them in, and a soft bell chimed as they entered, making the man's head turn to them slowly.

"Can we help you clean up?" Mel offered, earning a smile from the elderly man. Mel got straight to work with Rio and Cyres, while Akaia stood in the back, rubbing her eyes as she leaned against the glass frame.

"You were brave to interfere, young lady." The elderly man shuffled next behind the counter and spoke to her. Akaia only paused and looked at him.

"I beg your pardon." Akaia said, looking at the old man, who smiled and looked at the blood stains on the ground across the street. "Brave?"  
>"Yes, You did the right thing." He said, wiping the glass with a cloth. "A leader must sacrifice a civilian once in a while."<p>

"I don't understand-" Akaia was cut off when three tall looking faunus walked into the store, clothes ripped and crumpled with bloody noses. Oddly they all had floppy dog ears. Akaia turned towards them, making the rest of ROCK pause and look at the newcomers.

"Aye, _jungs_?" Akaia spoke in partial english and german as she would usually do. The taller of the trio walked up to Akaia, who only arched an eyebrow. "Something on your mind lads?"

His eyes flickered slightly, as if he was hesitating.

"O-on behalf of our peaceful protest, we want to say…" He trailed off, anticipating Akaia to lash out. But her hands remained to her side. "T-than you guys for standing up f-for us."

They looked at Akaia's blank face, and began looking away.

"Sometimes, ye gotta stick a pipe up a man's ass." Akaia smiled and heard Rio chuckle in the back.

"Or ya rather stick their foots up the arse." Rio joked, causing Akaia to chuckle. And the three started to laugh with them. "Oh, brighten up lads, you need a good laugh."

Mel and Cyres smiled and giggled.

"How about pulling the sign out of their asses?" Mel joked, causing the old man to laugh, to their surprise.

"I don't suppose all the crap is going to go to their own mouths right?" Cyres lightly punched Mel.

The old man cleared his throat.

"Well, between all of us," He started, gaining the fauni's attention. "Keep fighting for your rights, we are all one equal being…"

He walked over to the storage compartment and pulled out something and handed them to the three.

"My mother loved to be around many people and hated the racist, opposed to my father." He handed the box to them, as they grabbed it with two hands.

"Thanks." The one in red said, turning.

"Before you guys leave." Akaia said, making them turn. "Spit on that dead man's grave for me will ya, he nearly killed me with a shot to the neck. and our, as ROCK's condolences to the member than was befallen."

They walked back to the academy near sundown, walking down roads instead of over the roofs. People paid no mind to them, save for a few, who decided to round them- only to be down in a blink. They walked past an empty park, as a few couples can be seen here and there, kissing of rather something else.

And they stepped into Beacon's ground, only to see a angry Professor Goodwitch waiting, an angry scowl on her face. Akaia paused close to her, only for the blonde woman to point at the Headmaster Office.

"See Opzin, now." She said sternly, making Akaia automatically walk with ROCK as the Professor walked behind them.

They walked into the office, waiting patiently, with arms behind their backs in a salute of respect. Akaia knew what they were here for, and was ready to accept it.

"So, I have heard what has happened at the square today." Opzin started. "They said you fired upon a protest. And they said that you killed two people."

Akaia only stood like a statue, her eyes glaring into the wall behind Opzin.

"I have a bullet wound to my neck and my jacket, a man with a rifle shot down a rabbit faunus before hitting me on intention. Why? Is it a coincidence that he looked up at us before raising the rifle?" Akaia said to him, where then she reached into her shirt pocket, pulling out a small camera. "I have a recording to show it, and so does my brother."  
>Rio placed his recording on the desk as well, before going back in line.<p>

"With due respect, I'm certain there is a bold line between murder and protecting your team from harm, Headmaster." Cyres spoke up after as Opzin began reviewing the tape.

"There is, but…" Opzin looked at Akaia. "Did anyone notice that your leader's form started to flicker abnormally when she summoned Leviathan?"

"What?" Mel said before she walked to the group, looking at the video of Akaia through Rio's camera.

Akaia was stumbling from the blow to be neck, her aura flared up to protect her from it. But the bullet went through her aura instead. And she summoned Leviathan in a flurry of black fire, making something hover over her body like a shadow, faint, but noticeable.

"What is _that_?" Cyres asked, looking closely at the image replay again. The shadow about Akaia was flickering like a shadow, almost taking shape, but faint to the naked eye.

It was odd, it hovered over her form, the head visible from time to time. Three horns and the silhouette of armor, black as night, and transparent.

"I believe this is something not from your aura." Akaia watched as Goodwitch adjusted her glasses slightly before looking at Akaia. "More like subconsciously acting out."

"And how you all acted in sync is odd as well." Opzin pointed out.

The next clip revealed right as Akaia was revealing Leviathan's cannon form, Mel's Vulcan was already shifting over her hand. Cyres was already shaping Icentooth and Rio was already unraveling Vanquisher.

And when they landed on the ground, Cyes already erected a ice shield ahead of them, taking the bullet before bringing it down for Mel to shoot a fire bullet before flipping over Rio, who was charging up the photon cannon and fired.

"This is odd, coming from a group of odds and ends." Goodwitch said to them, making the team look up as one. "As if you guys were all in a trance."

Cyres calmly looked at the scene again, as if it was something otherworldly to her. The images was stranger than the thought, the background was different in both perspectives as well as the crowd. Then one thing stood out from there.

"Pause it." Cyres said, the scene paused when something in the back caught her eye. It was a black cloaked person with a faint white on it's head in the back. "What is that, a Grimm?"

Opzin and Goodwitch squinted at it, wondering what the person is, the screen zoomed in and cleared the image. A bone mask with red eyes and streaks going down the face.

"Is that what I think it is?" The Professor gaped as ROCK was more surprised than shocked by the newcomer. "A Vilgax Grimm, the ones who can only be seen as human, unless by those who have aura?"

Opzin took a long glare at it, and pointed to the team.

"Get Professor Port."

"Remarkable." The short old man said as he studied the rendering of the creature. "A Vilgax species, highly intelligent of a human, but deadly as one can call deadly. And _extremely_ rare, even to see one."

"Is there any special abilities of it?" Mel asked, curious of this Grimm. The short man nodded.

"Yes, yes," Professor Port cleared his throat. "A Vilgax can seemingly turn calamity into violence at it's very presence, Akaia was affected first, her aura was already attacked by it with brute force. Explaining why she shot the man who shot her. Manipulation on the other hand, turns human against human, family or friend or not."

Realization hit them like bricks- or a slap on the face. Rio's eyes seemingly bulged out, Cyres went pale, Mel looked bewildered, and then there's Akaia.

She looked… indifferent as usual if not, slightly interested.

"Cyres can manipulate, but it overrided her semblance." Mel said, pointed at the girl, Cyres was lost in thought. "Explains why we fell into a 'trance' and why Rio decapitated a man without a second thought."

"It can disguise itself as a human, not anyone with aura to blend in a wreck havoc." Professor Port said, showing a holograph of it. Shifting the hooded Grimm to a regular, everyday human.

"But that does not explain why she had something hovering over her…" Rio spoke, gaining their attention. "Unless, it was that thing was already beating her Aura."

They all looked at Opzin as he cleared his throat. He stood from leaning against the table, and pressed something on a remote in his hand, making a third-dimensional figure of the Vilgax appear.

"Well, I was about to give you all detention for this matter," He walked over to the projector. "But instead discovered a potential threat to mankind's naked eye."

"And that means?" Akaia said, looking at the professors in curiousity. It is odd enough to a normally nonchalant girl like her to be interested in something like this.

"Your new mission is to locate wherever this Vilgax Grimm may be and put it down." Goodwitch said, writing something on her scroll. "It is difficult since it looks human, and may take months or years, even to hunters and huntress like us. But we believe you lot can find it."

They group sat in their dorms, Akaia reviewing the information Professor Port sent them on all that is recorded about a Vilgax Grimm. The other three were busy snoring on the beds.

"Manipulation, extreme speed, Aura breakage, life drain..." Akaia listed on, mumbling to herself in the dead of the night. She sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. "Seems like a tough crook to handle..."

he looked as everyone slept soundly, faint snores were resonating from Mel's bunk. Deciding not to wake anyone, she walked out, closing the door softly behind her.

She walked down the courtyard before warping up onto the tower, overlooking the academy and the city below. It was a peaceful night for them, but for Akaia, a fairly unnormal one.

She could've sworn she saw something dark moving in the tower across from her.

"Reveal yourself." She growled, Leviathan and Behemoth started to shift.

She blinked, and it was gone.

She frowned and peered closer, nothing out of the ordinary.

* * *

><p>r&amp;r please :3 - MMC<p> 


	4. A Jump and A Fall

Mel groaned as she sat up and looked around in the darkness. She initiated her semblance to illuminate the area faintly, then realized she had landed on top of Akaia.

"Akaia!" She brushed some dust off her face as she coughed herself, then began to see Akaia stir. She awoke painfully, as if someone had dropped rocks on her back. Mel helped Akaia sit up slowly before she coughed.

"Are you okay?" Mel asked, brushing some of the rubble from Akaia's shoulders.

"Yeah. Where's Rio and Cyres?" She looked around as Mel did the same.

"I don't know." Mel and Akaia stood, patting the remainder of the dust from their clothes into the air. As soon as they stood, they noticed Rio and Cyres not far from them, where Rio was helping Cyres stand.

"I don't think we actually dropped down that far." Cyres said as they regrouped, then thanked Rio, who nodded back.

"How can you tell?" Mel looked at her curiosly.

"Well, we're on the fifth floor, and I'd say that this three means we're on the third floor." Cyres pointed to the large black three painted behind her. "Meaning we only dropped about two floors."

Akaia looked around, her visor glowing slightly as she removed it. IT felt brighter than usual with the visor on and the artificial light. Odd enough, it looked brightly lit, considering the fact that her brother took it off as well.

"Mel, can you turn off the flame, it's already bright enough here." Rio said, looking down the hall and picked up Vanquisher. Akaia nodded as well, but she blocked her eyes from the extra sun in the room.

"What are you talking about?" Cyres turned to see Akaia and Rio. "Uh."

"What? It's bright already here." Akaia said motioning to the dark area around her.

"Akaia." Mel said to her, making her pause. "Rio."

"What?" Akaia and Rio said in unison. Cyres pointed at the siblings.

"Your eyes are glowing like a cat." Mel said, pointing at the slightly glowing gray eyes with red specks.

And they were met with blank stares.

"Really..." Cyres pulled out a small mirror made of ice.

"Cool." Rio gave a small grin as Akaia continued to examine her eyes.

"Yeah, cool. So I can have my visors I lent you back?" Mel asked, and Rio began to hand it back to her. "Actually, hold it for now, I can't hold that many."

Rio shrugged and looked at his sister, who had finished her examination and continued to move forward with Cyres. Mel beckoned Rio to follow.

"It sorta feels like those zombie apocalypse movies." Mel said as Rio helped her over a fallen beam. She looked around the dusty hallways.

"Except that in those movies you watch, its a lot worse." Cyres grunted as she tried to push aside a heavy beam. She drew Icentooth and cleaved the beam in two, then kicked aside one half, seeing it slide down the flight of stairs before them.

"Don't jynx it Cyres." Mel said to her.

"I meant their acting Mel." Cyres sighed.

"Oh." They began to climb down the stairs when they heard something fall behind them. They whipped around to look into the darkness.

"What was that?" Mel looked around. "Akaia?"

She looked to her partner, who seemed to scan the area.

"Stay." Akaia said as Leviathan shifted into her cannon, pointing it at the corridor behind them. "Show yourself or I fire."

Akaia waited for a response. Her trigger hand getting itchy for a pull. A grin plastered on her face as she pulled the trigger, her aura forcing the trajectory of the muzzle into silence.

She watched as the .89 caliber sail through, striking something.

And she smiled as the sound of a body plopped to the ground. And silence hanged over later.

"Tch, it was the ass shaker." Akaia said, reverting Leviathan back, she turned to the shocked faces of Mel and Cyres, as her brother had no other emotions. "I thought is was the civilians wanting our heads."

"Y-you…" Cyres stutterers. "Shot him."

"Killed." Rio raised Vanquisher and fired a bolt of energy, where Akaia shot. They glanced at him in surprise. "It's the correct term."

"Situations like this is life or death." Rio said, turning back to continue walking. Akaia walked after her brother in a similar expression.

"It's either you follow or we leave you guys in here." Akaia warned, a tad of humor laced in it. "We have to get outside, unless we jump here."

They turned to the window that was shattered.

And by the third floor, it was almost like the fourth story in height.

"Stairs?" Mel looked at Cyres. Cyres nodded.

"Stairs." Cyres looked slightly pale, well the both do.

"Not too big on this 'killing' idea." Mel clomped down the stairs with Cyres nearby her.

"You two can jump, I'm staying with Mel." Cyres nudged Mel.

"We better stick together." Rio said to them, taking his sister along.

"Finally!" Mel fist pumped when the exit was within eyeshot. She latched onto Cyres's arm and ran towards the door.

"Mel, it's only been ten minutes." Icentooth materialized in fear of hurting the other girl if they happened to trip or anything of that matter.

"Crap!" Mel shouted when she rattled the door. She let out a roar of anger, engulfing her body in flames before kicking the grand double doors down. Cyres watched bug-eyed as the rest of the team exited.

"And you thought we were crazy." Rio whispered to his partner. Cyres nodded slowly as Mel's flames died and she dropped to her knees.

"Mel-" Rio stopped himself when Mel shouted to the sky, something about fresh air, something or other.

"Are you kidding?" She smashed her fist on the ground when a few other citizens marched in, with a familiar entity walking behind them. "Where are the others?"

Mel whipped around in search of the rest of the students or professors. They readied their weapons, then heard the unmistakable voice of the Vilgax.

"_Get them!_" They heard it shout. Hundreds upon thousands of humans poured into the courtyard.

ROCK was forced back to back, against the odds, they were prepared.

"Akaia?" Cyres asked, looking at the team leader. "Is this what you meant by-"  
>"It's a kill or be killed world." Rio said, shifting Vanquisher into it's prized dual-ended galive, sending raw power around them. He looked at his sister. "Akaia?"<p>

"Mel." Akaia said without looking. Mel looked at her.

"Yeah?" Vulcan was twitching as it shifted, revealing the pores on the metal, smoking slightly.

A pregnant pause settled in the air between them as the horde drew closer.

"Burn." Akaia smiled slightly as Mel got the message. Akaia kneeled and locked her arm pistons, smirking as Rio and Cyres flared their suppressing aura.

Mel ran and planted both feet on Akaia's powered arm, using both their aura to propel the human platform. A shock wave formed as Mel shot up like a rocket.

"Oh hell yes!" Mel smiled in joy, leaping several yards in the air, before turning and rocket back down to earth. Cyres shot her semblance, forming a large bowl-shaped container, with ventilations pointing away from them.

"Rio!" Cyres shouted, Rio nodded, stabbing Vanquisher into the ground, sending arcs of plasma lashing out, mixing with the fire.

"Cyres!" Akaia shouted over the expelling fire. The ice girl spun around, sending waves of ice spikes through the ground around them, making the courtyard a deadly obstacle maze with them in the center.

Cyres felt her aura flared up as her eyes glowed a icy blue, using her hand, she pushed the ice back, slicing and dicing through the horde. She felt Mel stand behind her, the aura of the raging girl hotter than ever.

Akaia looked over to see wings sprouting from her partner's back. Her hands enveloped in an inferno of her own excitement.

Rio was next to her, Vanquisher swinging in precise arcs, where Akaia just shredded without emotions. They briefly looked at one another.

"Shall we brother?" Akaia asked, using the long elbow blades to blind a man behind her.

"Lets do this." Rio smiled, unleashing the heavy aura that slowly leaked over him much like Akaia's aura several days ago.

Akaia's aura hovered over her, slowly darkening as she released a earth cracking round from Behemoth. The twin gauntlets hummed with the thrill of the kill.

They unleashed hell over the courtyard, Cyres flipped over Rio and kicked a man before smacking another with her shield. Akaia jumped as Rio slashed three attackers legs off, before being cremated by Mel's inferno.

They fought like never before, the Vilgax had miscalculated the sheer power each had, refueling one another though emotion and motivation while fighting. And the taller girl, her aura had a bone breaking suppression ability. Her speed was enhanced by the black aura around her.

Her brother seemed to remove gravity beforehand. His own aura forming a thick plating like shield around him, without restricting his limbs whatsoever.

They can disappear and reappear through shadows.

The winged girl on fire is fueled by aura and the excitement of the fight. The hands of fire capable of melting anything it touches, even cement. Even her skin was on fire, making her look like a demon-like phoenix.

The girl with a ice shield and sword was not better, her powers drew from the air itself, and the composure she kept. Refined and deadly as her blade, twisting and forming a thicker armor around her body. Oddly she resembled a golem.

"We are losing ground, what should we do?" A man said behind her, he had a sleeveless coat with a white mask over his face. The Vilgax only turned at him, a smile grinning as her left hand was enveloped in a mass of orange writhing worms.

"_We cripple the leader._" It grinned before releasing the mass, and walked away. "_Soon, I have a better plan…Tell your best mechanic to build a 'body'._"

"Right away." And he was off.

"_Lure them in._"

"They're retreating?" Mel glanced around as her breath steamed in the air. The others kept their distance from the inferno Mel held. She growled, then saw Akaia walk up beside her.

"They want us to follow, get back into the dorm and look for the others." Mel gave a disappointed hiss and extinguished her flames in an instant. She ran towards the building with Cyres and Rio before stopping to look at Akaia.

"Are you coming?" She looked at Akaia and ran back to grab her hand.

"I'm the leader, I should stay and keep you all safe." Mel yanked her away.

"This is no time to play hero, we're in this together Akaia. If you die, what are we supposed to do about our team?" Mel looked her in the eye. "But if you want to, go ahead. I can't stop you from leaving if you think that's what you have to do."

Akaia gave her a brief hug before they ran off, away from the horde of controlled humans. Her gaze softened as she ran over the options to attack.

* * *

><p>There was a six hundred to one, literally.<p>

Akaia was bruised and battered as she lead them away from the school and the Emerald Forest, she wiped her bloody lips with her remaining arm, before she paused and sucked in a deep breath, her slightly glowing eyes looking sadly at the academy she once, took part in. _Once_.

"Hope you guys are doing better...' Akaia smiled before wincing as her wounds still bled.

The rest were taking a clean sweep at the school, to clear out the lingering hundred. She looked at the stump of her dominant arm, Behemoth was lost somewhere in the remains of the courtyard. Probably in the center, hoping the arm is not attached to it still.

She took a moment to look at the opening in the forest, it was quiet, but would be ruined soon as the shoutings were clear.

She had to end this, or there would be a overrun in Vale.

She may have had a bad reputation for the past two weeks, but she rather not risk everyone else.

Her eyes blazed in anger, her aura poured from the mass above her into the stump of her arm as she dropped Leviathan into a portal she made, hoping it would go to Rio or wherever her other gauntlet is.

She didn't care if she was only a second year student.

But a leader has to make sacrifices sometimes, no matter what the cost is.

The ground flattened, rocks, animals, Grimm and the air as she threw her head back and raised her hand above her head, pouring her aura reserves into a condensed ball of unstable energy- courtesy of her unstable mind now. Her aura made arm dissolved into the orb of condensed energy.

She felt the pressure on her, her aura turning against her as she was slowly kneeling.

And she let a smile cross her face.

"Mel, Cyres, you better take care of Rio or I'm going to kick your asses" Akaia smiled as she released the unstable aura.

"Goodbye guys."

And it wrought destruction like a small atomic warhead, enough to clear a radius of four hundred yards. And whoever came later would be flattened alive, except those who are students.

* * *

><p>Mel duck and swung a fistful of fire as ice complimented it. Cyres was getting more drained than show is. Rio was faring much better than them, his emotionless face seemed twisted into anger.<p>

"Akaia, you better make it back alive." Rio growled before slicing a man in half.

And then the heard and felt the explosion.

It was not those small jolts, but a large and violent shaking as the windows and walls cracked. They turned to see a fading beam of black energy with dark clouds swirling around it. Something fell in front of them, stabbing into the ground.

_Leviathan_.

"Akaia…" They muttered, each pausing for a moment to watch the gauntlet pierce the soft earth, radiating black energies. Rio growled and shoved a man aside that he had clashed weapons against. The man stumbled and Rio stabbed through him, then brought Vanquisher up, out of his body, cutting straight through flesh and bones from stomach to the top of his head. He wedged Leviathan from the earth below, admiring his sister's grand weapon.

Cyres let rage and sorrow consume her, numbing her at the thought of the loss of their leader. Akaia wouldn't die, she told herself, she's the most prestigious of Beacon, and had a lot of unsolved and unfinished business. Was it that they were to graduate next year at top of their class? Cyres only let her thoughts assist her icy rampage, beginning to create even more gruesome objects with her ice, that soon became encased with thick, grueling blood.

Mel seemed to take the fall of Leviathan to heart, almost as if the gauntlet had not fallen to the ground, but straight through her chest. She heard her teammates crying inside, she heard them shouting over the war cries, she heard all the blood and limbs fall with cries of pure anguish, but what made her so cold? Akaia was their leader, their teammate, their friend. Was she supposed to have feelings for her partner? They were only supposed to work together, and coming from a much different background, when they were put together as a team, they had nothing in common. Everything around her was blurred, time was stopping and her body was moving on its own. Heads flew, and bodies fell, but where was the emotion she was supposed to feel when she took a life?

"You always have to play the damn hero!" _And get yourself hurt…_

Mel ran through the men and women, letting her guns and fists suck life around her bone-dry.

"Mel! Stay here!" Cyres shouted. Why'd she leave Akaia anyways, she gave her the choice to stay or go, why'd it matter so much that she chose to go?

"I have to find her!" _Guilt. _

Mel took an axe to the shoulder, making her cry out and punch the man square in the face, searing the tender skin on his face and breaking both his nose and jaw. She ripped the axe from her shoulder, and the bloody gash wept crimson tears on her thin leather armor soiled by battle.

_Guilt._

These people fell to her hand. These people crippled to the bullets. These people lie dead with the signature signed off by her soul's hand. These people are only citizens. The very citizens they trained for a decade to protect. Vale's citizens.

_Guilt._

"Akaia!" Mel's voice was breaking, and every heartbeat made more blood spill from the chasm of rich blood she held against her shoulder.

_Guilt. _That is guilt. Guilt is never being able to erase the regrets she had commit. Guilt is the neverending burden of carrying her world's weight, forcing her to see every path and forcing down every bite of regret with bitter saltiness. Guilt is what Mel felt when Akaia left, never letting her courage take over and telling her to stay. Guilt was when Akaia's sword fell in front of Rio. Guilt is rushing towards her leader, wishing so hard that it could break her very soul that Akaia will be alright. Guilt is now when Mel wishes that she could go back and hold her hand, telling her to stay. But that's all wrong, because she'll never be able to say it, and she'll always feel that guilt-

Because Behemoth was coated in blood, and Mel's guilty, bloody face was reflected on her leader's gauntlet. But what was she supposed to do, because-

"-I can't do a damn thing." _Blackout._

The Vilgax walked into the area that was destroyed by the leader's self-destruction. It's aura perfectly shielded it and the host skin perfectly, unaffected by the lingering reapers of Akaia's aura, seeking out souls to reap.

"_It's almost a shame…_" It marveled at the floating orbs which glowed in pale gray. They hissed as it drained the life out of the dying. "_A soultaker…_"

It's hand reached out to take the tiny orb in it's hand, before encasing it in a layer of orange, writhing worms.

"_Every person's aura is as unique as their fingerprint…_" It said, walking over to the crater where it supposed a body of a certain person laid. It cringed at the fact that when Akaia released her unstable timed bomb, she pretty much cremated herself with any evidence of her. The Vilgax looked at it's hand, where a orb of Akaia's remaining energy was captured.

"_I wonder if that body is ready…_" It smiled before walking off.

"Akaia!" Mel shouted, stumbling over dead bodies she had burnt to a crisp for nearly a mile long radius. She coughed, causing more blood to pour from her wound, leaving an ample trail of blood to follow. She was more surprised she hadn't died of blood loss yet, since she found herself fainted on the ground once already. She heard a sound to the left and let out a blade of flames, only coming to a stop against familiar hands.

"Where's Akaia?" Mel roared at the Vilgax, clenching her fists tight, allowing Volcan to steam and hiss with pressure. It only chuckled and held up and orb.

"_Is this what you want?_" Mel stood her ground, though her legs twitched to move, to tackle it to the ground and take back what remained of her partner. "_You're not sad she's dead?_"

Mel twitched at the word.

_Dead_.

It definitely had a ring to it, a certain engagement to the reaper at least. She wondered how Akaia could always keep such a cool composure, she was their leader after all- but there she was again, thinking about Akaia. She had only wished she realized her feelings sooner, when her partner was still alive.

"What do you want?" Mel took a bold step forward, still bleeding out greatly.

"_What do you have to offer me?_" Mel could see the dark smirk. "_I'm not open to all bribes."_

"My body." Mel said after a short pause. Her body, and her very being was all she could give to her partner, which she may very well end up with in the next life. Mel looked at the Vilgax, feeling a slight pang for collaborating with the supposed enemy, but she wanted Akaia back, giving her body was a meager price to pay.


	5. Lost and Found

I am currently working on shortening chapters- RKT

Remember to R&R!

* * *

><p>Rio ran his hands over the blood splattered gauntlets of his sister. Both claws retracted into their housing before just revealing the clawed gloves. Wiping his eyes, he set the twin gauntlets into a large chest, with heavy adornments before locking them away in the Beacon's guarded vault. Of course, they did this in the dead of the night, where no one can find out.<p>

Mel paused when Rio stopped in front of her.

"-her…" Mel muttered as she stood in front of the chest. Rio and Cyres paused.

"Pardon?" Cyres arched an eyebrow. Mel seemed to have a hard time with this.

"I…" Mel said softly, rubbing the stitched shoulder. And she mumbled off. "-her…"

The mechanic watched as the blank body flickered in response to the aura, twisting and molding into a desired shape to set.

"It's interesting to see that the aura is manifesting into a artificial body." He said to his assistants , the female one held up a finished hand gently, before the hand clenched around the air.

They marveled against the fact that the face twisted into a metal skull, devoured of emotions and set with functioning eyes made of glass lenses, hardened by her aura. The body was well made, shifting into all the anatomy a human would have.

"Ahh, the body is almost complete..." He said as the legs formed pistons before layers of fabricated skin stretched over the body, save the face and spine and several set metal plates adorned the body.

"She's still not back? Bloody hell, it's freezing outside." Cyres shut the window, beginning to watch the white crystals drift from the grey sky.

"And even you say that when your semblance is ice." Rio said to her, handing her a cup of coffee. She smiled and gladly accepted the cup before looking outside again.

"More importantly, Mel is still out there. That girl is extremely reckless, letting her flames burn everything, but I don't know about now." Cyres only traced the rim of her coffee cup as Rio sipped his.

"I'm sure she wants some space." He looked down, onto his shoes as he sipped his coffee. Cyres scoffed and set her coffee down onto the table before opening the window again and sticking her hand out.

"It's four below zero, she's going to kill herself in this kind of weather. It doesn't matter if her semblance can warm her, her aura is going to run out eventually." Cyres slammed the window shut, making the panes rattle.

"She didn't take my sister's death lightly, but-" Rio nearly dropped his mug when Cyres suddenly turned to him.

"Don't you realize? It's because she lo-" Their door swung open, their room quickly filled with heavy panting.

"Bloody hell-" Cyres nearly jumped into Rio's arms in shock. And there Ozpin stood, bundled with heavy green jackets and a black wool scarf to cover his neck and mouth. But what surprised them most was not their puffy principal standing before them, but Mel's pale body in his arms.

"Mel, what in the world were you doing?" Cyres ran to her. Ruby eyes only glanced to her for a long second before looking back to the boring white ceiling.

"She was with Akaia still, wasn't she?" Rio asked, biting his lip. Ozpin nodded and set her down on Akaia's bunk. She stared at the bottom of her bunk with her pale hand laid over her stomach.

"Make sure to watch her." Ozpin turned to them and whispered. Rio and Cyres nodded.

"I can hear you, you know." They looked over to see Mel still laying down, not even moving a muscle. She spoke slowly, with no interest with their current situation.

"Well, I'll be going." Ozpin turned and left the room. The door closed with a soft click and Cyres and Rio looked at their teammate. Mel turned away from them, facing the dark wall.

Months past as they ran tests on the second humanoid, aura-using machine, now contained in a fluid chamber and bitter to the world, destroying without a thought.

The mechanic's assistant gripped a small chip in her hand, her aged body was slow as she moved around the artificial human with a unformed, cruel, mocking skull as a face. Shivers ran up her spine as the eyes followed her under the dark lense. Her wolfish ears flicked as the jaw gnashed behind the fluid filled cylinder, as if it was forming a laugh.

"Its a terrible sight for you to be here." She said gently, as the gnashing stopped and the slight glow of the eyes flicked up to her. "Alone in this world, I pity you."

She watched as the artificial voice box and the muscles around it moved, making a uneven voice as it tried to talk.

"A… Aura… does not… forget it's…. past… life…" She made a mental note to fix the lining of the throat later on, but the voice was filled with unspeakable anger as the hand gripped the glass around it. "Weeks…"

"May I ask, not to intrude." The old faunus said, walking close to the glass. "Who are you?"

She got a good measurement of its massive height, as it shot a arm up at lightning speeds to crack it against the thick wall.

"You're nightmare…" The voice seemed to self calibrate, twisting the octave lower, as the hands began cracking the glass. "And the White Fang's.."

The old lady held up a hand to pause the machine. She held up the chip in her hand.

"I want to help you in this." She said softly as the machine paused. Her hand went through the clear glass and ordered the machine, to kneel with the back to her.

"Be free, you are not AK-0808, I know who you are, and I respected you in life with your team." She slipped the chip into the machine's skull. "Use your aura and manifest it into something you want, Akaia."

It rose slowly, before enveloping itself in the dark aura, its eyes glaring and lit, hands returning to the glass.

"Thank you…"

The old faunus gave a smile and stepped back.

The glass shattered.

* * *

><p>"That's it?" Cyres looked at Glynda. She nodded at the icy princess and pointed her wand to the forest.<p>

"Just rid the forest of the Grimm. The alarming numbers of the Grimm are only rising and we need to regulate them before it gets out of hand." Cyres looked at her. "Just enough to provide a sufficient amount to keep other students busy with training."

"Alright." Professor Goodwitch nodded. She walked off, then turned back to Cyres. "By the way, Ozpin asked about Mel, is she… alright?"

"She's out of bed, but not exactly," She paused. "fine."

"Oh, I see." Professor Goodwitch nodded again before turning to face a familiar red-head with a white towel draped over her shoulders, that with singed at the edges. She walked towards them, still dressed in her usual wear, a simple white and red softball shirt with Beacon's symbol embossed onto her right sleeve and khaki shorts.

"Where are we going?" The professor and Cyres both looked at Mel's singed clothes, then back at her sweaty face.

"To the forest." Cyres trailed off, seeing Mel's bloody knuckles and sooty hands and arms.

"Alright." She walked past them and towards their dorm room.

They did not expect to meet head on with a forest full of Grimm. Rio was grounded in less than ten minutes while fighting. While Cyres lost her shield in the combat, her arm cut and bleeding non-stop. And on the other note, Mel was faring fine- catching a large portion of the forest on fire.

Her fist slammed into the hard earth, sending shockwaves as the Grimm was swept back, turning to crisp. In her haste, she hoisted Rio and Cyres over her shoulders and took off, to a dense part of the forest they know about- untouched by Man or Grimm.

She pressed her hand to the gash on Cyres's arm, quickly cauterizing it before looking over Rio, and sealing the puncture on his side.

"Stay, and when you can walk, return to Beacon." Mel instructed before turning and running back to lead the Grimm away.

She watched as the wave of Grimm grew smaller and smaller, but her own cuts cried for help as they dripped blood onto the white snow. She ducked a swipe of a Ursa's paw, only to crash into a broken tree and roll away. The paw had nicked her back, but not enough to cripple her completely.

"There's so many…" She muttered as she kicked another with a rage-fueled fire.

Staggering, she blocked a punch with her bare arms, making the Beowolf's paw go through her flesh like paper.

Stifling a scream, she felt bandaged hands with the cold mechanical grip hold her as it's booted foot broke it's skull. She felt the rough fabric of something like a cloak envelop them. Being held in one of the arms, the intervener took off in a random direction before she blacked out.

* * *

><p>She heard the noise of shuffling around her as her tired eyes opened, seeing only the blurry outline of a rather taller-than-Rio person at the mouth cave, with a blizzard outside.<p>

She blinked again and saw two eyes, both glowing gray starring in her face, and a metal skull.

"What the f-" She screamed, raising her hands up and smacking the person aside with a metal resonating noise and the whirring of gears.  
>As her fear died down, she realized that she was in a bed of blankets and a fire crackling in the back.<p>

"Where…?" Mel looked around the small cave, then to the large machine sitting in front of her. It did look rather human-like, although the figure did look quite intimidating with its glowing grey eyes. The armored body was thoroughly protected by black and silver plates.

"You're safe." Mel looked up slowly.

"Thank you." The figure stood and walked over to Mel, making her scoot away slightly in fear, then felt warm hands wrap around her own. Mel stared at the metal hands for a moment, then looked at the metal face in surprise.

"Akaia?" A smile grew on her face as a low rumble exited Akaia's mechanical throat as she took Mel's other hand in her own.

"You're so pale right now." Akaia commented, brushing her fingertips over Mel's cheek.

"I thought you were dead…" Mel frowned.

"Nope." Akaia gave a chuckle. Mel smacked her partner's head gently, then hugged her tightly.

"I missed you…" Mel muttered against her neck. "Where did you go?"

Akaia's throat whirred a little.

"I woke up like this, well my memory restarted like this." Akaia felt Mel lean on her, Akaia sighed and pushed her back on the makeshift bed. "Go to sleep some more, you idiot."

Mel pouted as she laid back down, and promptly pulled Akaia down as well, before noticing that she only had ragged trousers and boots on.

"Quit staring at me." Akaia growled as she dug herself into the blankets. She felt Mel snuggle beside her cautiously. Akaia looked over to see Mel pressing her head against her back, covering herself with blankets.

"Mel, what are you doing?" Akaia looked at her. Mel instantly pulled away.

"S-sorry…" She turned away and held her blankets loosely.

"Just get some rest." Akaia said to her.

"Yeah…" Mel replied before eyeing Akaia and blushing slightly, then turning away again. They lay in silence for several minutes before Mel spoke up. "Akaia?"

Mel sat up and looked to her partner.

"Yeah?" Akaia responded by turning to Mel. She noticed Mel's face slowly become more red as she looked at her partner. Mel suddenly grabbed Akaia's hands without notice, taking the older girl by slight surprise.

"I- uh… Akaia… Don't worry me again." Mel averted her gaze for a moment before looking back at her.

Akaia took a moment before her eyes seemed to flash mirrored images and pressed her metal face close to Mel, almost smirking with that metal face of hers. She felt the hot breaths of her partner warm her metal face.

"Liar." Akaia teased as Mel shrunk more into the blankets. And then a warm hand ran across her metal cheek, running over every detail she offered to show. "You want something else do you?"

Mel blushed heavily as Akaia rolled them over, letting Mel rest on top of her.

"I-" Mel squeaked and felt Akaia wrap her arms around her. She felt her heart hammering against her chest as she looked up to see Akaia's smirk, rare for any emotion to show up on her face. Mel slowly wrapped her arms around Akaia's waist and rested her head on her chest. She was sure Akaia could feel her heavy heartbeats almost breaking her ribcage.

"Do you?" Akaia asked gently now, letting her breath tickle Mel's blushing cheeks.

"I want you to be safe…" Mel looked down a little, then felt Akaia nuzzle her. "I don't want to lose you again Akaia, because I-"

She looked into Akaia's new grey eyes, still reminding her of her old ones. Her aura felt the same, warm, and relaxing- just as Mel remembered it, like a beach on the perfect day. She bit her lip and held Akaia slightly tighter. She gulped down her fear and looked at Akaia's curious eyes.

"Akaia, I'm in love with you." She couldn't help but feel stupid inside, those words she had pictured to sound much different in her head, and wished that these words could have allowed Akaia to keep her human body. Nevertheless, Mel blushed hard, hiding her face against Akaia's chest, hoping that her chest wouldn't burst or her face would turn anymore red. Her head swirled as heartbeats made her palms sweaty with anticipation, that she would feel the same. Akaia sat up, still holding her tightly in the cradle of her protection and warmth. Mel felt butterflies tickling the insides of her stomach when Akaia tilted her head up by the chin to look into her ruby eyes.

"I was in love with you as well." Akaia's throat rumbled before looking in anticipation as Mel pressed her hand to the metal cheek, running over the exposed teeth and feeling the hiss of the breaths. Akaia gashed her teeth instead of pursing her lips as she let one metal hand onto the small of Mel's back and the other behind her head.

Meal placed her hand on the fabricated chest, feeling the silent heart pulse slightly. Her fleshy lips met the cold, lipless skull of Akaia's mouth, the breath of warm air brushed against her.

Akaia's arms jerked her closer, earning a squeak from the smaller girl.

_Had she really changed that much in height?_

Akaia paused as her metal tongue ran over the metal fangs as she bit Mel's lips. A soft moan came from her as Akaia moved to her neck, sinking the range into the soft flesh.

"I still am." Akaia said softly, pressing her metal teeth to Mel's neck again.

Their hot breaths mingled in the cold air as they reunited with aura. Akaia ran her warm metal tongue over Mel's plump lips.

"Then where were you these past months?" Mel whispered in Akaia's unseen ears.

"I was being rebuilt, but before that, I'm not quite sure." Akaia held Mel close to her, letting her breath tickle Mel's neck. She eyed the girls neck, biting back the urge to sink her teeth into Mel's soft skin.

"I missed you so much." Mel hugged her tightly, making Akaia rest her chin on Mel's shoulder. "And I still love you so much after all this time…"

Akaia rested her hand on top of Mel's hand.

"I missed you too." Akaia said softly, feeling the girl rest her head on her chest. Mel instantly started to loosen into her lover's arms, as Akaia laid back down, placing Mel on her arm, and pulling the blankets over them. She kissed Mel's head before drifting off to sleep.

"Good morning Akaia." Mel smiled as they both shifted and faced each other.

"Good morning Mel." Akaia smiled at Mel, making her blush slightly.

"Haven't seen you smile in a while." Mel snuggled close to Akaia. She chuckled and sat up, then felt Mel follow and wrap her arms around her body from behind. "Stay…"

Akaia looked down at her partner before running a fabricated hand through silky, black hair. She leaned down and kissed her again before Mel decided to tackle her. Akaia grunted as her protruding metal spine met the rocks.

"Ow." Mel said as she slammed into the metal platings of Akaia's chest, making her scoff.

"Thats what you get." Akaia grinned before grinning, if she can with that metal face. "On the other note, I wonder if Cyres and Rio made it back, it's only a drift there, but a blizzard here…"

Mel blinked at her.

"We are on the submit of the mountain where we trained." Akaia explained to the confused girl. "Altitude- ninety-feet above sea level. Temperature below freezing, I'm sure they did."

Mel sighed and rested against Akaia's chest again, running her hand over the oddly shaped metal shoulder, noticing that one of the platings was seemingly shorter than the other.

"You're incomplete…" She said as her hand ran over the exposed wires on the arm. And down the uneven abdomen before stopping at the hem of her rope-held ragged trousers. Akaia paused her and cleared her throat.

"And leave where you hands meet an obstacle, please, for modesty's sake." Akaia said, holding Mel's wandering hands as it found way to the ragged trousers hem, cutting off her lower abdomen. "I don't have anything to show anyways…"

"I was just hoping to repair you." Mel said to Akaia as her eyes still wandered Akaia's body.

"Maybe when we get back, we'll have to wait for the blizzard to die down at least." Akaia felt Mel run her thumb over her fabricated hand.

"I've been practicing." Mel tried to reassure, earning an uncertain sigh from Akaia. "You're not cold?"

"Apparently, I can regulate my body temperatures as well as scan surrounding thermal readings." Akaia watched Mel nod with interest. Mel shifted herself and sat between Akaia's legs before hudling herself into a ball.

"It's cold."

Akaia chuckled before wrapping her arms around her, raising the internal core of her body to a more higher temperature, until she started to let off steam through the vents on her body.

"Might as well make a sauna in here…" Akaia sighed, steam emitting in puffs as her mechanical jaw moved with words. Mel giggled as she tickled under the metal jaw, making a low rumbling sound as the sensitive wires were aroused.

"You're my personal heater now." Mel smiled, taking her into the warm embrace. Akaia kissed the top of her head.

"More like both." Akaia said softly, feeling the steam coating her unfinished metal bones with a sheen of water, making her movements undesirable.

"I'd love that." Mel looked up to kiss her warm cheek. "Save your energy."

She brought them over to their makeshift bed after lighting another fire and situated herself next to Akaia.

"This is like a dream come true." She giggled and hugged Akaia.

Akaia purred happily, as Mel tickled her sensitive wires of her incomplete form, sending euphoria through her artificial body. Akaia gasped a little as Mel teased the exposed wires of her chest.  
>"So cute…" Mel whispered, nuzzling into Akaia's embrace. Akaia only hugged back as they watched the crackling fire. Akaia flushed as the metal on her cheeks grew warmer.<p>

"Says the _fun-sized_ girl." Akaia winked.

"And what do you mean by that?" Mel leaned towards Akaia and poked her cheek. Akaia ran her fangs gently over Mel's neck. She felt the smaller girl twitch slightly under her touch as she breathed against Mel's soft neck.

"H-hey…" Mel pulled away slightly, her cheeks covered in blush. Akaia chuckled as her arms slid around Mel, who did not attempt to break free.

"Yeah?" Akia seemingly purred in her ear. "Is something wrong?"  
>Mel was about to reply, but Akaia's hands held her tighter under the blankets, making her squeal.<p>

"I take that as a no." Akaia grinned, gently nipping Mel's soft neck.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Rio and Cyres laid on their respective beds, staring at the ceiling.<p>

"Rio?" Cyres looked down from her bunk to Rio's relaxed form, his hands tucked underneath his head.

"Hey." He smiled at Cyres, earning a smile in return.

"Mind if I lay with you?" She looked away slightly, trying to rid of the slight blush on her cheeks.

"Not really." She saw him scoot over and Cyres climbed down the ladder and into his bed.

"We haven't seen Mel for hours… I wonder if she's alright." Cyres looked at Rio, realizing that he had already been looking at her.

"She's probably fine, I hope." Rio looked away, then grabbed his blankets. "Let's look for her in the morning when its bright and the blizzard dies down."

Cyres blushed a little more when Rio began sliding the blankets over them.

"Are you going to sleep here?" Rio asked her. She gave a quick absent-minded nod, then felt Rio wrap an arm around her.

"Rio?" She turned to face him, then blushed more at the small gap between them.

"Hm?" He brushed his finger over her cheek and swiped the bangs that covered her face.

Cyres blushed slightly before running her gentle, featherly fingers over Rio's rough ones, making them both blush.

"I…. uh…" Rio started blushing like his sister did before. "W-well…"

Cyres giggled as he tripped over his own words before Cyres leaned in a pecked his lips, and turned away with equally red faces.

"G-goodnight Cyres." Rio stuttered, feeling Cyres slowly turn and touch her soft hands to his body and wrap around him in a hug. He blushed more shyly, then crept his hand to Cyres's where they locked together.

"Goodnight Rio." Cyres's warm face heated Rio's cold back. Rio smiled and slightly tightened his grip on Cyres's hand before drifting off to sleep.

The sounds of Mel crashing through the door was one hell of a way to wake up. Rio and Cyres shot up to see Mel, with the broken door and a rather tall machine that slouched to fit through the door.

"Whoa there." Mel pointed at the couple in the bed before them. Cyres, ever so unladylike- flipped her off- a thing or two learned from the siblings.

Rio was just coming out of his slumber and buried his face into Cyres's silky hair.

"I will murder y-" Cyres mumbled at Mel.

"No fighting." The voice erupted, silencing as the oddly familiar cold voice rang in the room. They turned at the new machine, arms crossed over the cloaked chest.. "Or five laps around Beacon.


	6. Tyrant

Cyres looked at her watch, she had a few minutes to spare. Looking over at Akaia, the once proud leader was reduced to this miserable state of metal and grease. She looked at the shifting gray eyes behind the lens, flickering around the changed room.

_"Opzin… He was sure that you wouldn't be coming back and assigned a new leader for us, due to our drastic drop in class attendance and performance, he thought it was the best idea…"_

_Rio, Mel and Cyres sat solemnly in the dorm, missing their leader dearly, Leviathan and Behemoth sealed away, never to be touched._

_Rio would disappear into who-knows-where with Vanquisher and said forest would begin timbering every night. And Grimm was roused and killed as he vanished like the wind._

_Cyres would disappear into the mountains, unknown as strange auras would glitter in the night sky. Icentooth never left her side, and never in the lockers,_

_Mel would be in the training rooms or the city, setting ablaze in her grief, clubs would be ablaze and training rooms blackened._

_The team's status went plummeting to the lower levels, the once popular groups left a mark on the city, women and children mourned for the lost leader of ROCK. They would confine themselves in their rooms at the day, and killers by night._

_No one, even the Professors and the Headmaster himself can counsel them._

_They were just falling apart at the seams._

_One day, some boy, just shorter than Rio, smashed the door open and with a scowl, spat at their disgusting forms, announcing that he is the new leader of ROCK- later ROCB._

_Browne E._

_He was fairly tanned and buff, a huge ego with a nasty personality, pushing them to the limits, causing conflicts with Rio the most, like two bulls for one mate. He opposed the idea of relaxing as Rio and Cyres would argue the fact this would bring them down. He putted them through rigorous workouts, much different from Akaia's methods. He would embarrass them in public when they would falter for a moment, causing uproar though Vale as they pitied their weakened team, excluding Browne._

_They dropped even more, no longer willed to act with Browne, he forced more and more on them. Eventually, the team split, tempers flared as ROC went against Browne, verbally then physically._

_It went on for several months more until they ran into Emerald Forest and then now._

"...and this is what happened." Cyres said, pointing to the room, Akaia noticed that her bed had a lot of sweat stains on it, and it was not making her happy or reassured. Her retinal lenses zoomed in on the stains as readings came to her view, flickering slightly as her eyes shifted from stain to stain.

_Identity: Browne E._

_Race: Faunus (Wolf)  
><em>

_Eye color: Brown_

_Weapon: Flanged Mace / shotgun- Diablo  
><em>

_Background: NONE_

Akaia grunted and kept the description of him seared into her mind, reminding her of this Browne that disabled the once formidable team known.

And then the door opened as a man with curly brown hair, a flak jacket and cargo shorts walked in, his mace in hand.

"Alright you remaining shitfaces, three laps around-" He paused and looked at Akaia. "Who in the blazes are you?"

Akaia turned her skull faced head to him, gears moving as she was possibly raising an eyebrow.

"She's our leader." Mel stepped in front of him. He blinked at her and sighed.

"Get off my bed." He brushed past Mel's shoulder and felt her grab his upper arm.

"Mel, we've been through this alright?" He shrugged off her hand, then heard her pick up the table. "Put it down!"

He shouted, loud enough for the neighboring rooms to hear. Mel slammed the table onto the ground, making more of his things slide off the table as well as the objects in the single drawer. She placed her foot on the table and kicked it to its original position, making Rio and Cyres cringe, knowing the consequences.

"Five laps you asshole." He turned and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. She stared at him with a straight face as he lifted her off the ground.

"You're not our leader anymore." Mel said, clearly seeing Rio and Cyres's motions to stop. He gave her a disgusted look and pushed her to the wall behind them.

"Take that back you fucking piece of sh-" Browne pushed her harder into the wall.

Before a strange mechanical whir as a mechanical hand grabbed him by the collar of his flak vest, hoisting him up nearly a foot and a half into the air as he spun to see a not so happy metal face staring at him. He kicked Akaia's shin, earning no response than a sore foot as the force rebounded on him.

"Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?" He yelled in Akaia's face. She only frowned more and gave him a gave him a small toss. Before grabbing his leg, shaking him in midair.

"No one shall treat my team like this." Akaia snarled at him. "No one." Akaia only grunted and tossed him in the air lightly, before catching him upside down by the leg, dangling him midair.

"No one…" Her voice was like nails on chalkboard. He kicked and punched the taller machine as the pistons hissed as she flipped him over her shoulders and bring him down- breaking the table. Rio and Cyres looked over to see him rolling in the splinters and slowly kicking aside the chunks of the table. He stood meticulously slow, then brushed off his shoulder.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but I'm in charge of this team now, and you can't do anything about it." He glared at Akaia's grey eyes.

"As far as I can tell, I was- and still am a far better leader than you'll ever be." Akaia saw the rest of them drift towards her slightly, away from the enraged man.

"Ozpin put me in charge you shithead!" He lunged for her, then felt someone pull him back.

"Save it Browne." Mel held onto his shirt. Rio and Cyres looked sternly at him.

"Our true leader is back now." Cyres walked up to him. "So we don't need you."

She placed a hand on his chest and pushed him away. Mel grabbed him and smashed his head against their wall before tossing him out the door. She turned to high five Cyres, then they heard Browne banging on the door, shouting some incomprehensible words.

"We're going to get in a lot of trouble." Rio sighed, earning a shrug from Mel.

"You don't say..." Cyres scoffed, flipping her pristine pale, white hair over her shoulder.

"Ten Liens say he would challenge me." Akaia said dully, sitting down on the sweat-stained bed. Rolling the stiff shoulder, hearing the wires crackle as retinal readings came on about her exerted systems. Mel sat by her, kissing her metal teeth as she sat on her lap.

"Lets get the hell out of here." Rio said moments later, looking at his sister, then to Cyres and Mel. Akaia nodded and looked at the icy girl.

"Cyres, freeze the damn door."

* * *

><p>The door swung open, shattering the ice, alerting them of the police force that stormed in. The black armored men with dust rifles of Vale flooded the room, in search of the team.<p>

Only for them to be long gone as the draft from the broken window spoke to them.

"Clear!" the phrase resonated through the unit as they searched the broken room, all looted of weapons, ammunition and armor.

Browne shoved through in anger as he surveyed the ruins- broken tables, windows, beds, walls. Everything. He growled, kicking a broken table aside before looking out the broken window, with smeared oiled letters on the wood, Curiously, he drew closer to the wall for the message.

_Do not come after us, _

_For we are long gone in another continent…_

ROCK

He was furious, not only did a intruder claiming to be the real leader kick him out, but also ran off with his new team.

And he was going to get them back with some help.

With the most notorious organization with his kind.

* * *

><p>So is this length better and not eye-drying with 3,000 words?- RKT<p> 


	7. Nowhere

Mel laughed when she splashed water onto her teammates. Rio and Akaia merely grunted, Akaia more so though, since she had to worry about her cables and wiring.

"Honestly-" Cyres looked at her damp clothing and growled at Mel, who giggled at her. Mel hugged her friend, earning a scoff then a hug in return before turning to the siblings.

"We've gotten pretty far." Mel commented as she released Cyres. "The last time that we've been outside of Vale is… before we came to Beacon, I think..."

"Yeah, I have to admit this is pretty exciting." Rio rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. Mel wrapped an arm around him.

"That makes two of us." She held out a fist for a fist bump, which Rio shyly complied to.

"They'll eventually find us." Akaia sighed. Mel pouted and walked over to Akaia and placed her coat over her shoulders.

"When they do, we'll be prepared." Mel smiled at her. "Sorry for getting your cables wet, I'll fix them eventually."

"If we find parts." Akaia sighed again, earning a light punch in the upper arm from her partner.

"Of course we will. You need a few adjustments." Mel winked. "And I'll be happy to help ya."

Mel slid her finger over Akaia's metallic jawline, then they both heard Cyres clear her throat.

"Shall we?" She jabbed her thumb onward, with Rio standing by her side.

"Right." Akaia cleared her throat as well, setting her mind back to their escape. Rio smiled at them and soon after slid his hand into Cyres's, walking happily hand in hand. Mel and Akaia followed closely behind them and soon copied their actions.

"They're gone." Browne growled to Professor Goodwitch. She glared sternly at him.

"What do mean they're gone? I put you in charge of that team, and I expected you to keep track of their locations." Her eyebrows furrowed.

"There was this big machine that just walked in, and no one would listen to me-" Professor Goodwitch nearly choked on her coffee.

"Machine?" She looked at him in surprise, only thinking of one being that could potentially have that form.

"And I think that son-of-a-bitch stole my team." Browne smashed his fist on the table.

"I'll talk to Ozpin about this…" Professor Goodwitch trailed off, her eyes seemingly becoming distant as she slowly set her mug down.

"I want my team back." Browne demanded before exiting the room and slamming the door behind him.

"Akaia…?" Professor Goodwitch whispered to herself. "Where could they be?"

She walked over to a holograph of the defensive turret, where a set of blueprints sat behind- a giant machine Akaia built the previous year, to aid Beacon in times of need.

* * *

><p>Cyres sat on a mossy rock, her mind cleared and open to the world around her. Mel was busy cooking fresh deer they caught in the Grimmless forest. Rio was busy skinning another with his rather large combat knife, making a tent for all of them to sleep in. Akaia, is busy adjusting herself to the waters as she was tinkering with her arm, sparks flying now and then. Until Rio's voice caught her attention.<p>

"Alright finished the portable tent." He sighed, wiping sweat off his brow and stepped back, admiring his work. It was fairly short, well made and like a military tent, but nestled in the rocks, easily overlooked. He took a seat next to Cyres, smiling as they looked at the small housing for all of them.

"Mel!" Akaia's angry voice cut through the wind like a whiplash. They turned to see Mel being swatted into the water- for pulling Akaia's trousers down. Rio facepalmed and Cyres sighed.

"You look nice Akaia!" Mel giggled as she spit out the clear water, making Akaia growl and reach down to the soft mud.

"Do you want me this bad enough to expose me?" Akaia threw the volley of wet mud. Mel ducked the mudball as it plopped into the water behind her, she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Maybe~" Mel teased as Akaia reappeared behind her. She only let out a short yelp before her head was dunked into the water for a few long seconds as Rio only blinked and Cyres sighed as they watched from a distance. When Akaia released Mel, she turned and sprayed her mouthful of water in Akaia's face, earning another angry growl. The shorter girl laughed again and wrapped her arms around Akaia's neck, then dragging her down into the clear waters.

"You idiot, we're supposed to stay dry." Akaia scorned.

"Well then, you're going to have to dry me since you wet me in the first place." Mel winked at her. Akaia sighed shortly at her partner's awfully planned sexual joke, then smashed her face against the water's surface, seeing bubbles rise up as a result of Mel's laughter. When Mel surfaced, she grinned, then faded to a sincere smile as she placed her hand on Akaia's under the water.

"But I really do want you." She whispered against Akaia's non visible ear.

"Later you can." Akaia sighed slightly, her body getting warmer slightly. Mel giggled and pushed Akaia's tall form slightly deeper in the water, winking at her still exposed form.

"At least let me put on some pants." Akaia said, drawing herself up.

"I rather have you not." Mel winked as they intertwine their hands.

Rio laid in his back, gazing at the afternoon sky, clear and cloudless. Cyres gazed at the rippling waters and the icy blue eyes flicked to the rock face. Listening to the other two fool around in the waters.

Mel kissed Akaia before wrapping her hands around her waist. "Mine."

"I know I'm yours." Akaia dove in the water, taking the girl with her. Her voice clear as day in the suppressing and oxygenless water. "And I intend to keep it that way."

Mel giggled and rested on Akaia's chest, hearing the gears softly whir under the incomplete skin.

Akaia purred as she slipped her hands around Mel's waist.

"And I'll always be yours." Mel grinned and kissed Akaia's jaw, hearing another soft purr from her partner.

"Hey Akaia, Mel, maybe you should get dried up now." Cyres called out as Rio poked the fire with a stick. Mel pouted slightly, then felt Akaia rise out of the water with Mel still slinging onto her and grabbing her trousers.

"Sure." Akaia muttered to herself as Mel jumped off of her and landed with a small splash. Akaia pulled her trousers back on and Mel led them back to their closeby makeshift camp.

"Well, the food's ready." Rio pointed to their small serving of meat and berries. Mel flung most of her clothing to the side to dry, making the rest of them sigh.

"Awesome, we'll eat now and leave in the morning!" Mel flung herself to her serving and beckoned the others to join, Rio being the first to accompany her, since his energy was spent on labor. Akaia and Cyres came next, and within minutes their miniature portions were gone.

Mel yawned and Akaia took them to the tent. Cyres rubbed her eyes and Rio draped an arm around her and soon followed his sister into their tent.

"Mel!" She caught herself jolt awake when she heard Cyres's voice.

"It's so early…" Mel grumbled and placed her head back onto the ground again as she gently pat Akaia's arm wrapped around her.

"Let's go look for something to eat." Cyres grabbed her hand and tugged her, urging her to get out of bed.

"You're hungry?" Mel rubbed her eyes as she cautiously sat up.

"For the road. Besides, Rio and Akaia always get us food." Mel nodded in agreement with her teammate and slowly stood to accompany Cyres in their short search.

* * *

><p>They walked into the thickets, with a small pouch of deerskin, fastened with skinned strips. The forest was calm, quiet and soothing to the ears, with the roar of the rivers in the quiet, lightless morning. Mel bounded across tree branches, grabbing berries with bright purple sheen in her hands and dropped them into the pouch Cyres was carrying. On the other note, Cyres would gather carrot-like fruit, sweet to the taste, but hard and tough to bite through. But it was delicious to her sensitive taste buds and her odd ability to fend filter poison to her semblance to fight. She picked up a small grape-like berry, looking over it before biting into the strange fruit. A sweet and tangy taste flooded her mouth as she analyzed the results as her body began to filter any toxins in the fruit.<p>

"Clear." She whispered to herself and grabbed a handful and dropped them into the pouch.

"Hey Cyres!" Mel dropped upside-down in front of Cyres as she hung from a branch. She jumped a little and glared at Mel slightly.

"Gracious, Mel, what are you doing?" She picked a few more berries and placed them into the basket.

"Want to get some meat?" Mel dropped from the tree and threw the berries into the basket. Cyres scoffed and picked out the bruised and smashed berries and threw them out. She looked at the reckless girl, who was busy with admiring the tops of the trees.

"We'll have to carry it, and we don't have anything to keep it from rotting." Cyres placed more berries in the basket.

"Hey Cyres, if you wore more red, you'd be like Little Red Riding Hood." Mel chuckled. Cyres raised an eyebrow and glanced at her from her side view. "And I'm the big bad wolf."

Mel mimicked a roar and reached for some berries into the basket before throwing them into her mouth. Cyres sighed and shook her head with a slight smile.

"You can be Akaia's big bad wolf." Cyres joked, raising her eyebrows at the awestruck girl.

"Did you just-?" A grin slowly grew on Mel's face.

"Yep." Cyres returned the smile as they smiled at each other and returned to picking berries.

Mel grinned and tackled Cyres when her back was turned- and went smack dab into a wall of ice.

"Nice try you buffoon." Cyres said, walking ahead of Mel as she was recovering from sprinting headfirst into solid ice.

Akaia and Rio awoke minutes after the two girls left, Rio being the first to sit up, looked outside the window flap. It was barely light out, perfect to make a getaway from this part of the forest. He heard the gears behind his sister's ribcage whir to life as she sat up, eyes flickering on.

"Morning sis." Rio said, yawning and grabbing his discarded shirt he took off in the middle of the night and spared a glance at his sister as she cracked the metal back, the metal sinews under her incomplete skin shifted with her.

Admittingly, they looked about the same, except Akaia was only slightly taller.

"Morning Rio." Akaia got her voice working as she first walked out the tent, with her usual business. Which now involved submerging herself into the water.

* * *

><p>"Cannonball!" Mel splashed into the water, relatively near Akaia's standpoint.<p>

"Mel, what are you doing?" Akaia rose from the water to see her partner standing by her in minimal clothing.

"Just thought I'd join you again."

* * *

><p>Cyres watched Akaia catch Mel and send them back into the water as she crouched down to wash the berries they had picked. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Rio standing behind her with a smile.<p>

"Hey." She placed the cleaned berries into the basket and stood to wrap her arms around his neck. Rio blushed and slowly wrapped his arms around her slender waist. The thought of his sweaty form only made him think whether or not if it made him sweat even more.

"What's the matter?" Cyres pecked his lips.

"Oh, nothing." Rio responded as he glanced at his sister and Mel, still playing in the river.

Rio kissed Cyres's forehead and turned as Akaia dunked Mel into the waters again.

Cyres was busy admiring Rio, ignoring the poor younger girl. She blocked out the noises of Mel's drowning and only focused on her Rio.


	8. Hunter and Prey

Their footsteps rang in the break of dawn as they sprinted from the forest as shouts could be heard behind them. Somehow the hunters- bounty hunters, tracked them down, and attacked them. And as usual, they would not go down without a fight or flight.

And instead of fighting, they fled with their shadowy partners into the darkness that still surrounded them.

And leading the pack of bounty hunters, was no one other than Browne. He was hellbent on getting his team back when they left with Akaia.

And now the legendary ROCK is being hunted like wild game.

They stopped for breath as they passed a ridge, being sure they lost the hunter. They only took a short breather until the lamps and lights shown in the short distance.

"Damnit." Rio swore as he and Akaia enveloped their partners in their darkness and warped away again.

"Rio, go first with Cyres, I'll go after." Akaia commanded as Rio dropped into his portal and Cyres snapper her fingers, a portal opening after Rio and his whereabouts.

Browne and three other bounty hunters stopped as the machine was getting ready to warp with Mel in her arms. Screaming in frustration he fired his shotgun at them. The machine grunted and lowered herself to cover Mel as the pellets disrupted it's charge, only throwing it into the portal as it took out a chunk of her shoulder. But the machine failed to pull Mel into it with it.

"Got you you little shit." Browne growled, ramming into Mel like a bull, knocking her into a bounder. His hands clasped around her neck as he hoisted her up into the air. Mel lashed out to kick him, striking his chest and knocking him back.

"Mel!" Cyres shouted, slashing Icentooth in Browne's direction. "Mel, it's just me and you alone now."

Mel coughed as she regained her breath, Cyres blocked one of the bounty hunter's knife with her ice shield and reposition back. In Cyres's view, she backflipped next to Mel and disengaged her shield. Outstretching her palm in front of her, she willed the boulder behind them to move to her willpower.

"Cyres…" Mel said as she can visibly see Cyres shaking from the sheer effort of will power being poured to protect both of them. Gunfire filled her ears as she saw Cyres falling to her knees, blood staining the pale blue robes that covered her legs. "Cyres-!"

The boulder moved at last, flying straight at them and all while crushing the two bounty hunters between the rock and the ground.

Cyres was panting in exhaustion, Icentooth weakly in her grip as she moved to sluggishly parry the incoming mace and claymore.

"I'm… Not going down… without a fight…" Cyres panted as she slashed the hunter across the throat before Browne's mace collided with her shield arm, a sickening snap can be heard before the mace collided with her abdomen, sending her to the ledge. She barely had time to cry in pain as she felt both the metal platings of her arm guard and her bones snap under the blunt weapon. Her back was no better.

"Cyres!" Mel cried as she swung Vulcan in his face, colliding before his knee struck her side, staggering her. Mel growled and engulfed Vulcan in flames before knocking the wind out of Browne while scorching his leather jacket. Taking advantage, Browne used the pummel of his weapon and smashed it in the back of her knee, crippling Mel before smashing the mace to the side of her head, sending Mel into a sea of black.

Rio and Akaia both looked at each other, worried by the late appearance of Mel and Cyres.

"Where are they…" Rio asked as Akaia looked around the unfamiliar territory. It was a the edge of a forest, leading into wide open tundras, a place where Cyres would like. "They're almost twenty late."

Akaia can only draw one thing from this, her damaged shoulder sparking as the wires were damaged. Signals of damage reports filled her screen as Rio began pacing, Vanqisher in its unreleased form gripped in his hand.

"He has them." Akaia said minutes later. Rio paused and frowned, something rare to see from her brother.

And the frown turned into a look of anger.

"Brother, it takes us three days to get there, who knows what would happen to them." Akaia said, feeling the hate filled stare at her back.

"...have me do?" Mel's head was spinning, everything in a jumble as she tried to perceive her surroundings. What she presumed as the ground had a earthy scent, as her eyes cleared to see a large cave, with dust cargo everywhere. And then-

Browne.

He was standing and talking with some lady in red with glowing eyes. She was praising him or something before Browne turned and pointed to some masked people to the side.

"Get this princess ...re and into the …. pit room." Mel vaguely saw Cyres's semi-conscious form being dragged off with gloved arms hooked under hers. And from the looks of it, Cyres was conscious as her pale blue eyes flickered with daze. "...this...to… well…"

And she blacked out again.

* * *

><p>Mel opened her burning eyes to see an old, scratched and bloodstained glass panel. She tried to focus on what was beyond it, but her head throbbed with every blink and focus.<p>

"You're awake." A gruff voice came beside her, her head turned slightly to see none other than Browne next to her, she can see the outlined smile on his blurred face. "And in time to watch some entertainment."

Mel looked past the glass to see Cyres, her broken shield arm limp against her side, her head still dripping blood as she gripped Icentooth in one hand. She was limping slightly, and Mel finally noticed how dented her cuirass looked, along with the blood splatters.

"Cyres!" Mel's mind finally woke up as she shouted to her friend. Browne raised his hand to beckon something to the guards above the wall. They nodded and pulled some chain or lever, complimenting the sounds of the gears grating and pistons hissing.

"She's going against our newest android… A test run if you call it." Browne spoke with some excitement as a humanoid walked in, dark gray like Akaia but with metal and red highlights.

Cyres blinked the haze away as she saw the competitor walk in, dark metal and red eyes. Raising Icentooth, she heard the distinct whirring of gears and the flick of a blade of some kind as it charged at her. Instinctively, she raised her broken arm to cast a spell, ignoring the pain as a shield of ice erected in front of her.

But the ice shattered as a metal arm whacked to her side, barely deflected by her longsword. Stifling a cry of pain, she shot an ice bolt into it's chest, distancing them both as she regained her lost breath.

She blinked before it rammed her with full force, her cuirass taking the brunt of the charge, breaking a large chunk of the thin metal as she fell to her knees, never losing balance. She shook the bits of broken metal away before a knee smashed against her face, sending her to the concrete when her vision slowly dotted away. Spitting out a wad of blood, she can vaguely see the android standing over her with it's bladed arm drawn back.

"Cyres!" Her ears picked up the sound of Mel shouting before she lapsed into unconsciousness.

Mel opened her eyes again, this time she is in a cell of some kind, there was a small cot on the corner, a sink to the side with a toilet, and the door looks like it is made of fireproof material. There was a faint throb in her head as she tried to recall anything from what seems like moments ago. Her ears still had that pestering ringing noise as she blinked away the clouds.

"Mel…?" A faint voice came from her right. Groggily, Mel turned her spinning head to look at who was talking to her. "You're finally...up"

The voice is Cyres, slumped against the cell wall, still in the ruined and bloodstained armor. She looked pale and pained as her arm was cradled against her body. There was a dark bruise that almost covered her right side of her face, near her eye and there was a line of dried blood down her chin.

"How… Long?" Mel asked, propping herself up and crawled next to Cyres. Cyres drew in a short breath before holding up three fingers. "Three?"

Cyres's eyes flashed annoyance and rolled her eye.

"Yes you idiot." Cyres gritted her teeth before groaning. Mel gently grabbed her and set her down on the cot.

"How long were you like this?" Mel asked worriedly, she gently pried the broken armor to the side, and unlatch all the metal from Cyres's body. Mel looked at Cyres as she cringed when Mel's hand brushed over her injuries.

"Don't know weeks, days, I lost track long time ago." Cyres breathed out slowly as Mel crawled into the space beside her, warming the icy girl slightly.

Akaia never heard her brother go on such a rampage before, Vanquisher fueled on his anger rather than calamity.

"Keep this up and you'll become a Grimm…" Akaia muttered as she ducked a tree trunk that was uprooted. RIo let out a animistic and rage filled snarl.

"When do we attack!" Rio turned to her, stabbing Vanquisher into the ground. Akaia stood from sitting on the ground and faced her younger brother.

"I know it has been a week, brother, but if you keep expelling your Aura like this-" Aakia growled, her lenses glowing a tinge of red. "Then go, you have the chance now, you have the weapon, the rage. And I only have a body and no weapon or armor to keep me from getting my head taken."

Rio stood his ground, glaring at his taller mechanical sister.

"Should there be other ways to alleviate this?" Rio growled in her mechanized face. Akaia said nothing but to glare down at him.

"Then go and save them," Akaia only said, causing Rio to snarl before turning and warping away. " Run like you always do, brother."

She turned and looked into the forest before her.

Akaia felt the tightness in her chest, churning and wanting to break her new body. It felt like sadness and anger or-

_Guilt_.

Everything hurted.

She had the chance to save them both, but she failed to do so. It was a simple task and it cost her both Mel and Cyres.

Throwing her skull head back, she gave a blood-curdling roar, shaking the earth as her eyes began glowing gray and red.

* * *

><p>Well this as a 100 view special guys :) Thanks for taking your time to view out long ass chapters. XD - RKT &amp; MMC<p>

**NOTE:** Due top arising complications, we are going on a temporary hiatus, and will be back soon (Trying to cut down story length, because this story was not really meant for publicity, but we're changing a little.)


	9. Severed Bonds (Act I End)

Back!, there was some minor issues between us that we solved... so enjoy :3 - RKT

* * *

><p><em>Weeks…<em>

Rio walked the empty lands, far, far away from his own sister. His mind was a cocktail of emotions, anger at his sister's failure to keep them safe, guilt for not being there to help and a lot of other things. He had lost count of how long he wandered the forest, coming into towns for supplies or just out on a search for the hideout.

Everything felt numb to him as he walked deeper into the Grimm boundaries.

The forest was calm, not a Grimm dared cross him as he treaded deeper and deeper, Beowolves watched from the sides, Ursi in their dens and Nevermores circling above him like vultures.

"Damn sister." He growled, walking towards a opening in the dense and gloomy forest. "You always have to act as hero and just ball it up at the last minute."

His walks left imprints in the grass like white fire, turning a light gray.

"I always hated walking in your shadow," His eyebrows furrowed as he gripped Vanquisher until the shaft began denting slightly. "Always one up from me, you always try to keep hidden, but you always grab the spotlight…"

"Am I not good enough for you?" He spat as if he was cursing Akaia. "Weak?"

Bitterness replaced his once calm and kind heart, tainting his aura a shade of gray.

"You never acknowledged me, ever since we came to Beacon," He said, voice full of hate now. "I always tried to prove my worth to you, proud to have me as your brother as you protected me when we were young. I hated how you would judge me..."

His aura flared to life around him, fueled by anger and resentment towards his sister.

"I hate you!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, feeling the Grimm shrink at his grance. His aura only crawled around him.

"No matter, it is time, sister." He growled before a blood curdling roar echoed from the mountains. "The light will dim…"

"_Wir werden Wege hier trennen , Schwester._"

He growled as his aura overtook him, consuming him in a cocoon of his own emotional manifestation.

* * *

><p>Akaia felt heavy, numb and anger, not at her brother, but at herself. Her heart throbbed with sorrow. She understood why Rio, her brother, would hate her so much.<p>

"I know you hated me Rio, from day one of Beacon." Akaia said to the wind, her damaged shoulder hissing. "You don't know how hard I press the spotlight to you…"  
>Red-tinted eyes looked into the forest below.<p>

"I hide, to give you the light, but they focus on me…" She said, drawing in a deep breath of frigid air. Cold as her heart has become. "I always watched as you improved yourself to surpass me, you looked up to me a lot before, and now you hate me. I understand."

Her aura began to twist around her feet, writhing around like worms.

"I was always proud of you." She said, but her voice was lost in the wind. "I still am, I may have screwed up along the way, but you're still my brother."

Every word began to claw at her chest, biting into the sorrow she felt now.

"All I wanted is for you to be independent from me." She whispered, turning away from the forest and walked through the crack in the mountain. "You'd still are my little brother, Rio. And I accept your anger and resentment"

Her dark aura only consumed her, causing all the emotions to come like a mighty roar and echo across the tundra and forest. But not before a flash of gray light filled her eyes momentarily.

"_Die Dunkelheit wird nur wachsen dunkler._"

The darkness in one's heart can only grow darker and slowly turn them into monsters they once fought against.

* * *

><p>Cyres sighed as she soothed Mel's hair, the poor girl's been plagued by nightmares since the beginning of the week. Mel has not said anything about it, only with tear streaked face and whimpers as Cyres would soothe her head like a mother would.<p>

And this time, Mel would take Cyres's motherly side, hidden under her cold and shielded exterior- for comfort.

But they were beaten for information by the WhiteFang- Cinder. And by Browne, for where Rio and where Akaia is , just so he can mount Akaia's head on the wall of his office or room.

Mel would often cradle Cyres in her arms, her thinner body was bruised and bleeding in various places. She had a harder time healing with the bone breaking wounds she suffered. Mel would gently rock the once powerful and stoic member of the team as if she was her child.

"We have to get out of here." Mel whispered to Cyres, who only nodded and then grimaced slightly as she rested on Mel's arm, soothed with the warmth Mel gave off.

"Yeah… Soon." Cyres said softly, her pale blue eyes looking over to the iron cell door. She looked to the ruby iris and asked: "When?"

Mel took a pause to lick her chapped lips and at the cell door, calculating the time she needs to gather to full strength. "Soon.

"How soon?" Cyres asks as usual, always for the deep precise detail. Mel looked around the room, her eyes scanning the dull grey of the lifeless room. There was no fire that fueled her soul, as there was no ice to shield Cyres's. The emptiness of the room only strengthened Mel's sheer silence. She only let out a lukewarm sigh, barely heating Cyres's chilly body.

"When I can." Mel of course, answers without definition.

* * *

><p>Blood.<p>

The scarlet iron drips from his fangs. It runs from his claws. The liquid is cold, yet calming to the hot, steaming black fur of this birth. Darkness is all his vision swallows, consuming everything that leaves the crimson trail behind him. The shadows fall like black snow, burying away his vivid vision and kind words. He tastes salty streams cascading over pale mountains from her face as she mutters her last words, the black village is just a target for his hunger. He only hears her say things about the child she holds, then realizes it rolls away crying when he holds a cold body in an over growing forest of sharp, ivory fangs.

Blood.

It drips from all the walls. It covers every street, and it paints all the clothes in this abandoned village that had been annihilated with no mercy, and no emotion at all.

Footsteps behind him caused his wolfish ears to flick as he turned his head towards the new prey.

A huntress with a giant gleaming red and silver scythe. Her face covered by a red hood and her body covered by a cloak.

But nothing mattered, he growled and pressed his ears to his head and backed away, fading into his own shadow.

* * *

><p>Pawed feet hit the rocky grounds as a scaled beast prowled the tundra, crimson eyes peering into a unaware village right under the slope. She lowered herself as she stalked down the slope, eyes pressed to the Dust mine where workers would haul dust all day and night, supervised by men in white suits. She curled her lip back, revealing the rows of fangs that was hidden by her scaled lips and great metal maw.<p>

She hasn't feasted in days, and her mind grew cold with the rest of her heart.

But something caught her eye, and a fireball whizzed by her face, causing her to rear back and fall into her shadow and reappear several yards back.

Crimson eyes looked to see a blonde, and from the looks of it, she had gauntlets that can shoot fire.

"A Grimm?" She heard the woman ask, strutting towards her. "You're pretty docile."

Baring her teeth, she gave a roar and snapped forward, trying to bite the blonde, only to be knocked aside with a heavy fist. But the real sting was the fire after the punch, patches of her metal scales were burnt or charred. It made her chest tighten at the feeling of fire, reminding her dead mind of someone.

She saw the woman flying at her, fist pulled back to finish her off. She snapped her maw open to ignite the black fire in her waiting maw. Pushing on her hind legs, she springs forward to meet the fiery girl head on with a plume of her own black fire.

* * *

><p>Reports came flooding, alerted by the surge of the new two new and deadly Grimm Species. But for some odd reason, they reside near Vale, sometimes in the Emerald Forest.<p>

But one of them would be near the SDC head quarters, then to the White Castle and then back in Vale, it was the same one-eyed Grimm.

They both had a body of a wolf with a mane running down their head and stopping at the shoulders. But one of them looked like a metal scaled and pawed dragon with large horns on it's head and large spike lining on it's spine. It's mouth was covered by it's lower lips, a metal plate of teeth. The eyes are covered by a Grimm mask with four slits, two on each side, one side caved in and shattered, leaving it with only one gray and red eye. Though this one has a tail and underbelly of a wolf.

The other had black fur, hard as steel with plated scaled running down it's underbelly like a dragon. It had fangs of a sabertooth, made of the Grimm mask it had, identical with the dragon-like Grimm. Claws instead of paws, it had a dragon like tail, spiked and bladed to the tip. The eye colors were reversed, red near the iris, everything else was gray.

So far two those who fought it would realize that they had a tinge of Aura still being emitted, before it would flicker and fade away into the shadows.

* * *

><p>And near the outskirts of the city of Vale several days later form the report, around three in the morning, the mine exploded, rattling a 8.6 magnitude earthquake. When officials went to investigate, all they found was charred ice from the creator- still melting away. A scorched trail led to the volcanic region, and ended at the rim of a bubbling volcano, and the other led to the tallest peak known in the world. Their abilities matches with a second year team that went missing- almost two and a half years ago.<p>

* * *

><p>So this is the end of ACTI, ACTII is in production mode atm XD. Thank you for being patient with us.- MMC<p>

Hint: The next ACT has the main characters.- RKT :P


	10. II- New Start

Sooo, Here is ACT II of the Predecessor series :3 SORRY FOR THE LONG CONTENT DX we kinda loose track and end up writing long chapters... - RKT

* * *

><p>Within the third year, the Dragonwolves sightings vanished, like they never existed, and ROCK was declared deceased instead of missing. No one found their remains or anything, what was left of them was scuffle marks and the heavy pressure of their lingering aura. They left off at the summit of the coldest area known, the volcanic region, a dark forest and the rocky mountains. A sense of dread was left as if their aura was pulling them into a void, never to be heard from again.<p>

The warmth assuaged her, chipping away at the heartfelt pains, and the hunger that had set in, feeling as if her very organ had been removed gruesomely and placed back into her body without the slightest clue of sight. Her thoughts were all in a jumble, like a swarm of mosquitoes in a humid rainforest. Yet the heat of the fire around her comforted her as would a cozy fireplace would on a cold, snowy day. Her muscles began to loosen and her fingers began to move. Fire had found its way to the long lost ruby irises.

The mouth of the volcano spat hot, searing molten lava hundreds of meters up into the ashen sky before the drooling magma slid down the rocky bib. A distant observer watched as the volcano slowly ceased its explosive temper and molten tears as a female figure emerged from the bubbling plume.

* * *

><p>The temperatures of the peak often caught men off guard, quickly freezing them to death within hours upon entering the icy suicide. The sheer cliffs guide men to a five-hundred meter plummet to their death and the snowy wind often launches possessions and men off the tumbling heights. Chills travel down her spine like a snake as the cold burrows its way into her aura, conquering the pain she held with numbness to wash everything away and let it come tumbling down with all her strength like an avalanche.<p>

She looked to her right, through the white winds to see a plume of orange shoot into the air, leaving the sky an ashen color.

"Mel." She leaped from the cliff, down into the icy chasm below, then caught by a camouflaged beast.

Blue eyes peered from under a bone white Grimm mask as she landed on the beast's ancient head.

* * *

><p>Men watched as the dragon like Grimm rear back, enveloped in dark energies, roaring as it shrunk into a more human sized height. A single glowing gray eye pierced the night, before the moon highlighted the tall armored body, segmented and lack as the night with the occasional silver highlight.<p>

"It is time…" They cowered as the head turned towards them and dual claws unsheathed as it roared once more and dropped into the darkness.

* * *

><p>The wolf Grimm howled before shifting, twisting into a human form, the gray aura enveloping the figure as he gave a gruesome roar, the bright aura merging with his physical form, forming pauldrons, chassis and then the body formed into a tall suit of bulky armor with vents. A lone man watched as the twin silver lens of the helmet gaze into his soul, before the famed dual-headed halberd formed in the outstretched hand.<p>

"I shall end you…" He spoke in a monotonous voice as the heavily armored person turned around to face a Alpha Beowolf, and within the second, the Grimm ran at full speed. The pistons of the armor hissed as more ventilation's popped from the armor, he swings his left arm out, the attached gun whirred to life as it opened fire, rounds with the force of a cannon at point blank.

* * *

><p>Vale, over run by Grimm, pushed all efforts to stop it to standstill. The Hunters and Huntress-in-training are exhausted beyond doubt, the second round of Grimm was widespread, popping out of the City square like locuts, much more than the present teams known can handle.<p>

The androids are being pushed back, before being trampled by Boartusks and dismantled by the strange bipedal Grimm.

Civilians became caught in the crossfire.

Everyone was losing, no one can hold ground, air support was taken down within the sudden surge.

But on one of the distant towers, something other worldly happened.

The sky tore apart in a flash of ice and time ripped as a brilliant blue portal opened.

A frost Wyvern Grimm-like creature bursted from the portal, the ancient faded ice scales and large horns glistened in the hidden sun. A mighty roar echoed and shook the earth as it balanced in the air. Brilliant blue eyes peered into the city under, Nevermores turned to the beast, only to be frozen and shattered by the icy breath it breathed.

And a mini volcano erupted in the distant, sending hot fire everywhere.

And then a force of a nuclear warhead dropped as fire erupted.

The Wyvern descended upon the site of fire, creating ice everywhere.

The Wyvern drew close, letting it's rider jump off, landing onto the pavement, faded blue robes fluttering as the weighted steel cuirass shifted when she moved, her right hand extended as a ice sword materialized within the time the Grimm struck the ice blade, and being smashed aside by a shield of ice seconds later. Another pounced behind the newcomer, who whipped around, throwing the shield like a frisbee, blue tinged hair tied in a high ponytail fanning around as cold icy eyes met the red ones. One claw struck her plated shoulder, making her backhand the Grimm as she spun around.

A roar of fire shot one out of her way. She turned her head to the source of fire, seeing a trenchcoat and flaming gauntlet wearing girl with brown hair and ruby eyes look at her.

"It's been three years, Mel." She said, smiling softly, slicing another Grimm apart as Mel, now a few inches taller, punched one across the face. She still had the goofy grin years ago.

"Well, I missed you too, Cyres." Mel smiled back, and set herself on fire, and dashed around the small font, burning on her end. Cyres on the other hand, began the opposite, leaving frost and ice as she zipped around using ice to propel her. "Jump and- Boom!"

They collided, sending an explosion of ice and fire everywhere, Cyres shielded them with her shield.

"That was awesome, you still got your touch!" Mel became a child again as Cyres sighed and facepalmed into her shield hand.

As soon as the dust cleared, they had more Grimm than before.

"And this is why I do not like to execute that move you bloody idiot." Cyres sighed again, removing the shield from her hand and Icentooth extended twice it's size, but still in her right hand.

Her free hand glowed a pale blue as her eyes mirrored the color, She clenched her fist, and the ground began to shake, and then ice jutting out everywhere.

The ground rumbled more as the ice dislodged themselves from the ground, along with the Grimms around them. Cyres looked over to the distant building, seeing the gleam of Vanquisher and the armored figure, hand outstretched and pointed towards them.

"Rio!" Mel shouted happily as the grim looking helmet lowered, looking at them, they can tell he is smiling under the helmet. "He's here!"

The chant of death shook the air, and everything came crashing down as another armored figure stood across the square from Rio.

"It's been a while brother." They recognized the rough, mechanized voice anywhere, even after these years. The horned helmet, jaws and the twin clawed gauntlets sat on it's arm.

Leviathan and Behemoth.

"Once more like ol times?" Mel shouted to them as they glared each other down. "Akaia? Rio? Come on don't hate each other anymore."

Akaia only grunted and flickered next to Mel. Rio followed after, appearing next to Cyres. And the two girls noticed that they had grown as well, a staggering two feet taller than they were.

"We'll talk after this," Rio snarled, gripping Vanquisher tightly. "Sister."

Akaia grunted, and nodded.

They turned to the Grimm horde around them, the students all exhausted and or unconscious from the gruesome battle. Now faced them.

They were back.

"Divided we stand," Akaia spoke in a proud voice, the three followed her. "United we fall!"

And all hell broke loose as the four clashed with hundreds.

Ice and fire clashed, creating semblance induced explosions, gravity worked its magic before being crushed by pressure.

Mel flipped over Cyres as the icy girl slid under, the extended Icentooth slicing through Grimms with ease as one can breathe. Mel gave fire coated kicks and punches before landing on a Ursa's head, ending it's pitiful life instantly. They stood back-to-back, Cyres blocking Mel's blind side without looking.

"Just like old times-" Mel ducked a soaring Boartusk. "Right?"

"Sure." Cyres responded, spinning the lengthy Icentooth around her, taking out the ones around her and form Mel's back.

"Thanks!" Mel shouted over the howls and roars. "I still wonder how you can use a two-handed ice sword in one hand."

Rolling her eyes, Cyres placed her hand on the ground, and almost instantly, rocks began flying into the air around her. Grunting, Cyres backflipped, merging the rocks into a large and floating fist, and punched a King Taijitu in the face, sending it flying- into her Wyvern as it flew by, grabbing the Grimm in it's clawed feet.

"I can do that." Cyres looked at Mel's slack jaw at the sight of her beast.

"Is that a Grimm-" A Ursa's paw knocked her away and into a pile of rocks. A thumbs up came a second later from the pile of rocks and dust. "I'm okay!"

"Nutter." Cyres sighed, ducking a Beowolf's lunge before freezing it with ice. "And yes, that is my Wyvern, Hazurfurn."

"How majestic." Mel watched like a child as it flew above their heads, beating down an icy glaze over the heated battle. Mel quickly dodged a speedy swipe from an Ursa's paw, avoiding the four grand claws. She looked to Cyres, who smashed a wall of ice against a line, then turned to face the large Ursa before her. A familiar devious smirk appeared after fire swallowed her body, allowing heat to pulse through the battlefield. The Ursa gave a grunt before charging at Mel, who slammed against it and grabbed the much larger body to heave straight into the air, giving enough distance to shoot her flames crashing into the airborne Grimm. She let out a giggle as ashes fell from the sky.

"Mel, you bloody idiot!" Cyres shouted as she poked her cutlass through the eye of a Deathstalker, then leaping from its head to avoid a lethal jab.

"Ashes, dashes," Mel enclosed a large group of Grimm in a fiery circle with her flames through her speedy runs. "they all fall down."

The circle exploded, sending bloody shrapnel of limbs and dirt hurling into the air like a science experiment gone wrong. The others shielded their eyes from the intense light that overtook the horizon. Cyres wanted to smack the childish Huntress playing with fire as she heard Mel laughing through the explosion.

"That idiot…" Cyres smiled and sighed to herself. She ducked as fire flew over her head, missing her elf ears. Shifting her full body cuirass, Cyres backflipped and kicked a a Boartusk out of the air with her plated boots. She enjoyed the feeling of her lightly armored body and not skirts and leggings- but actual steel cladded and still mobile in the heavy looking cuirass.

And then something landed beside her and exploded in pink, sending Cyres sprawling onto the broken ground.

"What in the name of?" She swore as a girl with a rather large hammer flew by, giggling. And then smashing into the weird bipedal Grimm's heads. "I'm not even going to question logic anymore…"

And when she was about to stand, a rather tall blonde with shotgun gauntlets slammed into Mel, sending them both into the ground.

"I'm okay!" She heard a muffled yell.

"Is today eve-" A black-haired girl with a bow, wielding a cleaver and gunblade smashed into her side, knocking the wind out of her- again. Cyres instinctively manifested her aura encased them in a cocoon of ice as they went sprawling into the concrete. Luckily, her cuirass took the brunt of the damage. Cyres groaned as she saw a horde of unknown faces join their battle, each with their shining weapons, soon encased in the blood of the Grimm. A snowy haired girl landed next to her for a moment, where Cyres laid her own blue eyes on her for a moment before the girl bounced away with her glyphs and crashed into a Beowolf, causing a sheet of ice to coat her surroundings.

Cyres pushed the scythe girl off of her, only to raise Icentooth up to block a devastating strike that her armor can not withstand.

Akaia turned under a strike to the head, and brought a right hook through a Beowolf's head, knocking it clean off. Flaring her aura, the immediate area around her was flattened, even the buildings and trees. To her side, Rio flicked his blade here and there, lopping off heads with dead precision.

"How are you holding up?" Rio asked his sister, moving his shoulder to catch the tusks of a Boartusk, the blow not even moving or damaging his tougher and bulkier armor. Akaia only grunted when she was swept aside by a King Taijtu's tail.

"Never been better…" Akaia groaned before rolling out from when the jaws came upon her. Snapping her arms up, she pushed her systems to override as her armor began hissing and applying it's own mechanized strength to help her not get eaten by this Grimm. She looked over her shoulder to Rio, only to find him with is own issue. She looked back at the snapping mouth, her hands gripped on the fangs. "Guess it's you and me."

"Guess so." Rio shrugged as his weapon was reapplied with a scarlet covering as he shrugged at his sister and leaped at the Grimm to skewer them and flip his weapon around to puncture quick, life-ending craters in their chests.

* * *

><p>"So, what was your name again?" Mel shouted over the blonde's loud rounds and fiery spirit, covered by her own set of explosions.<p>

"Yang! And you?" Yang threw aside her flaxen hair to jab a powerful punch into the pit of a Nevermore's bowels. The Grimm squawked and let out a final beat of its wings before it turned to ash.

"I'm Mel, nice punch you got there." Mel smiled at the newcomer and held out a hand for a high five. The blonde smirked back at her and returned the friendly gesture before turning to the horde of Grimm again.

"I'll cover you if you don't land on me again." Mel joked, making the blonde chuckle.

A plume of fire flew into the air.

* * *

><p>"I'm Ruby." The insanely huge scythe-wielding girl said, holding out her hand for Cyres to take. Cyres shook her hand with her gloved ones.<p>

"Cyres." Cyres smiled slightly before materializing a shield to block an Beowolf strike and riposte before turning and lopping one of the heads off.

"Whoa, your sword is huge." Ruby marveled at the length of Icentooth, unaware of the Ursa behind her. Cyres spun around, thrusting the ice sword into the beast's head, her bladed edge only inches from touching Ruby's shoulder. "And super long, how do you hold it?"

"As you can hold your scythe." Cyres replied, throwing her shield into the mass around them, knocking them like a pinball machine. "Duck."  
>Ruby blinked before seeing the ice shield flying at her, and ducked, watching as Cyres gripped it in her hand before rolling to the side, and lunging to impale the two charging bipedal beasts by the throats.<p>

Ruby stood, swinging her large scythe around, taking out several Grimm at once. Cyres used Icentooth to hold a Boartusk from running her over, while using her manipulative abilities to help Ruby's blind the Boartusk aside with her weight, a King Taijitu sprung from the ground, leaving her with a second to use what strength she have to keep the mouth from closing on her, Icentooth and her shield disintegrated, channeling her powers to hold the fangs back as long as she can. Ruby was busy herself, Cyres growled and looked at the sky.

"Hazurfurn!" She shouted to the sky, hoping for her wyvern to come faster. A breeze later, and she found herself thrown to the ground as her wyvern knocked the snake aside, it's ancient and ice spewing maw clamped around its body.

"What the-" She turned to see Ruby staring at Hazurfurn. "Is that a Grim-"  
>"That would be Hazurfurn," Cyres smiled slightly. "My mentor and mount."<p>

Her shocked expression was priceless, Cyres bursted into laughter.

"No way, Yang says these stuff are myths and stories I read as a kid!" Ruby said, vibrating where she stood. "Can I pet him?"

"Later Ruby." Cyres ducked Nevermore's feathers, a happy squeal came from the hyperactive girl. "I swear to god, you sound like Mel."

* * *

><p>Akaia found herself separated from her brother and is instead paired with a short, white-haired girl that uses a Dust revolver rapier and her glyphs.<p>

"I suppose formalities are for later." Akaia said, feeling a pink dust canister explode next to her.

"I suppose." She replied, in the same tone Cyres would use on her, but more cold like a blizzard.

"Nora!" They turned to see a young man in a green and gold trimmed eastern styled coat run after the hammer-wielding girl who is using a Ursa as a bull.

"Is she riding an Ursa?" Akaia blinked. She began to notice that the darkness was slowly covering the sky- her natural power soon revived again.

"Yeah." The white-haired girl said, jumping back onto her glyph as a Nevermore's feather striked where she was at moments ago.

"What does Beacon teach nowadays…" Akaia sighed and uppercutted a Beowolf, Leviathan's claws unsheathed, slicing it's head neatly into quarters. The white-haired girl merely scoffed and threw her hair over her shoulder with a flick of her head as she turned to launch herself into the unwelcoming cradle of a Nevermore. A caw echoed through the Grimm filled air, but was then silenced with a quick execution of a glyph-powered rapier. Mighty calls soon faded to silence in the skies as the girl drifted down, gently like a snowflake. She pointed her rapier out as if preparing for a fencing match, watching Akaia catch a Beowolf by the head with a downward thrust of her claws.

* * *

><p>"Nice." The charcoal headed girl said to Rio as he impaled Grimm, several at a time. Rio only huffed and spun Vanquisher around and sliced another Grimm in half.<p>

"As I read, a Beowolf's weakness is its back and neck." Rio smashed his gun arm into a Beowolf, knocking it aside before using the momentum of the heavy arm to spin Vanquisher is a speedier fashion, mimicking the speed of sound itself. Only pausing then he stabbed the galive into the ground and firing a earthshaking round into the Grimm horde.

"Impressive." The girl said to Rio before flickering and appearing beside him. "But can you keep up with me?"

Rio watched as the girl began reappearing all over the place, leaving a trail of Grimm bodies in her wake. He merely smiled under the helmet.

"Easily." Rio smirked. His armor began hissing as hidden vents levered up, and his armor plates shifted. In an instant, he started to flicker with a gray fire. His heavier form began to appear all around, leaving a flurry of dead accurate bullets and deadly swings. He finally brought Vanquisher down between the ridges on the Ursa's back. "And Ursas are weak on it's spine!"

He paused next to the girl and his armor shifted back into place, removing any signs of the vents that was there moments ago.

"I take it that you read then?" She said, ducking a Death Stalker's tail.

"So," Rio started, punching a bipedal Grimm in the face and fired around into the Deathstalker's face, causing the head to explode. "Got any books to recommend?"

"Later." She replied shortly after the explosion of blood. "Anyways, I'm Blake."

"Rio." He smiled under the helmet before his eyes darted to the darkening sky. "My sister…"

A radio static resonated in his helmet.

_Rio, Mel, Cyres, pull everyone back to the watchtower, the time has come._

Rio nodded as Blake tilted her head.

"Watchtower? What's going on?" She asked as Rio only enveloped them in darkness.

* * *

><p>"... is so cool!" They looked at the energetic Ruby that was vibrating in place. Cyres merely sighed in the back, leaning against a crate.<p>

"What's so cool?" Yang arrived in time with Blake and Mel to hear the last bit of Ruby's rant.

Ruby squealed and pointed at Cyres.

"Her dragon!" Ruby said as she whipped her head around to see the girl gone. "What, she was here moments ago."

"Stop playing around Ruby." A white haired girl walked out of a black portal, followed by two large armored people.

"I'm no-"

"I'm right here." They turned to hear the beating of wings and a up close look of the wyvern's battle scarred face. Yang, Weiss and Blake instantly drew their weapons at the sight of this creature. "Relax, it's Hazurfurn and no he's not a Grimm."

"No way," Yang's jaw dropped and ilac eyes went wide. "Those things are myths in stories."  
>"Well, you all just met one." Mel said behind them, focused on Cyres, icy blue met ruby red. "Glad to see the ice queen is still alive after years of isolation."<p>

Cyres scoffed and crossed her arms over her breastplate.

"Says the walking nuclear warhead." She retorted, a smile playing on her face, jostling the scars that raked the left side of her face. "I'm surprised you're still alive after being a dormant volcano."

"Says the two living natural disasters." Rio sighed on the side, with his helmet tucked in the crook of his armored arm. HIs face did not change, save for a scar that ran across his cheek. "Speaking of which, where is my sister?"

"Right here." A gruff voice called to them, making them all turn to see the missing member step into light. "We still need to talk about our situation, brother."

"Of what?" Rio said, walking up to meet the same height of his older sister. "For turning us both into Grimms and back?"

"Partially." Akaia said, not moving an inch. "I'm sorry for what happened three years ago."

"Grimms?" Ruby asked from the back but was ignored by the members of ROCK.

"We're still siblings Rio, like it or not." Akaia spoke in a same even tone. "I forgive you, but I know you won't forgive me."

"Damn right." Rio snarled, his gun arm whirred slightly. "I wou-"  
>A pink dust explosion rocked the watchtowers as Mel jumped into Cyres's arms as Cyres herself was trying to balance on Hazurfurn.<p>

"Nora!" The shouts came from the other watchtower.

Rio sighed and looked back at his sister.

"Guys, not now, we have to finish this battle up." Mel shouted as she stood next to Cyres.

"But are we still a team though? Or anymore?" Cyres asked, dropping to the solid ground, looking at Rio. "Me and Mel think we should be a team again."

"I know you hate Akaia for leaving us behind." Mel placed a hand on Rio's shoulder. "But we forgive her already."

"Plus, think of the good times we had as a team." Cyres added to Mel's response.

A pregnant pause sat around them, it seemed like hours before Rio answered.

"Yes." Rio said, lifting his head, a smile playing on his face. "I forgive you sister."

Akaia let a small smile under the helmet.

"Alright!" Mel cheered from the side, giving Cyres a bear hug.

"Ack!" Poor Cyres is getting the life squeezed out of her. "M-Mel…"

Akaia and Rio looked at the two girls, one dying and the other one not noticing.

"So, we're all together in this again." Rio said to his sister who only nodded.

"Yeah." Akaia turned to the girls. "Mel, Cyres."

"Team ROCK is back!" Mel happily shouted, dropping Cyres on her back. The icy girl's fist raised in support.

"ROCK?" Blake raised an eyebrow at them. "The same team that went missing three years ago?"

"About that…" Rio rubbed the back of his head.

"Less talking, there's Grimm around our little fortification." Weiss pointed over the ledge. Cyres peered over with her, and Mel just happened to ram into both of them.

"I wanna see too!" Mel shouted.

And sent them both over the ledge. Everyone gasped, except for Rio and Akaia.

* * *

><p>"Mel!" Cyres snarled as her hand caught the flagpole and her other with Mel's hand.<p>

"Aw, my hero." Mel smiled and stuck her tongue out. "Saving me and all."

Mel swore she saw Cyres's eye twitch.

"...I can just drop you right now." Cyres said, expressing no emotion, but for the eye twitching.

"No you won't." Mel smiled, making Cyres more irritated. She only met Cyres's scowl. "Uhh, Cyres?"

And Cyres let go of Mel's hand, sending the girl into the Grimm below.

* * *

><p>RWBY all blinked and wondered if this is always normal for those two.<p>

"Is she going to be okay?" Yang pointed as Cyres dropped Mel.

"She is, we did parkour runs of rooftops before and dropping from six stories and up strengthens our shock absorption." Rio explained.

"Does Cyres hate Mel?" Ruby asked.

"No, they have weirds way to show their affections." Akaia smiled slightly.

* * *

><p>"How could you do this to me?!" Mel shouted as she disappeared into the Grimm under them.<p>

"It's only a five story drop you idiot!" Cyres shouted back, still holding onto the flagpole, not bothering to pull herself up. "You jumped off a Nevermore at a sixteen stories once and still survived, and you can do it again!"

"Love you too~!" Mel's muffled voice came from the mass of roars.

"You insufferable..." Cyres gritted her teeth and let go of the flagpole. She landed with a soft thud and readied herself quick enough to jab the hilt of her sword into the gut of a standing Ursa. Cyres glanced around, and Mel was nowhere to be seen.

"Mel?" She called out as she decapitated n Ursa, sending its head spiraling through the air, leaving swirling traces of blood to taint the ground below. She received no answer, not even a shout or explosion.

"Melanie, this is not funny." Cyres shouted sternly. Instead of a fiery pounce, she was greated with the howl of a Beowolf and a snarling leap. Cyres grunted and shoved her rapier into its chest, then flung the corpse aside to fling her weapon straight into the head of another Beowolf. She flipped through the air gracefully and swiftly to re-obtain her sword from the lifeless head and block a massive, clawed paw with Icentooth. She heard another growl from behind her and sliced the paw that she had parried before backflipping and puncturing the Beowolf's throat. She used her momentum to carry out the full backflip to slice the body horizontally before landing on the opposing side. Before she could even take a breath, a Beowolf slammed into her side, knocking Icentooth within a tantalizing distance. Cyres grunted again as she reached for her sword, then swore under her icy breath when an Ursa pawed it away. She elbowed the Beowolf in the jaw, making it rear back, giving her enough to to reach for her rapier. She grabbed the hilt of Icentooth and swung it upwards, cutting through the entire body of the Ursa. Cyres huffed as she regained her breath and blinked away the blurriness that had temporarily set in from the Beowolf's tackle.

* * *

><p>"You're not going to go after Mel and Cyres?" Yang asked as she examined the Grimm matted floor. Akaia and Rio looked at each other, then back at Yang.<p>

"No, they'll find their way back." Akaia provided Yang with an answer.

"Should I help them?" Yang looked down again.

"I wanna go too!" Ruby suddenly appeared next to her sister.

"Cyres and Mel will be fine, while we were gone, they we with each other for a long time." Rio spoke, nearly snarling out his past.

"Even though they have weird ways of showing it, they care about each other a lot, they were starved and beaten for months." Akaia huffed, recalling her own grief as a Grimm.

* * *

><p>"Mel!" Cyres huffed as she blinked again. A Beowolf snarled and lunged at her. Cyres raised Icentooth and summon icy spikes to launch into the horde ahead of her. A heavy smash knocked her side, making her stagger. Cyres stumbled to the side, then jumped slightly when she felt arms wrap around her. She looked over her shoulder to see Mel's playful smirk, releasing her warm, signature aura.<p>

"Heya ice princess." Mel grinned.

"You idiot." Cyres breathed out, hiding her subtle relief. Mel snickered and unleashed a plume of flames to engulf the surrounding Grimm in a nuclear-powered firestorm. Cyres closed her eyes as a warmth enveloped her, then felt an icy breeze bite her face and the soft sound of beating wings and crackling.

"Where in the world did you go, you bloody idiot?" Cyres scowled. Mel grinned at the icy princess in her arms as her fiery wings carried them upwards, towards their team. Mel's aura would fire and shoot down Nevermores with hot precision, leaving their remains with just drifting ash and an explosion in the cold sky.

"Just practicing hand-to-hand combat." Mel shrugged. "Well, I repaid one favor, now for the other…"

Cyres looked up to see Mel's devious grin. Then, she realized.

"Wait, Mel-" She heard the girl's howling laughter as she released Cyres from her warm embrace to plummet towards the sea of Grimm below. Before Cyres could shout at the red-head, a familiar set of arms scooped her from the air and brought them up again. Cyres growled and smashed her fist against Mel's arms.

"Ow, that's no way to treat your savior." Mel smiled at her as they neared the airship.

"By definition, you'd be anything but that." Cyres rolled her eyes. Mel giggled and set their feet onto the boarding platform of the airship, still holding Cyres. "Okay Mel, let go."

"No." Mel laughed at the princess, sparking her irritation even more.

"You nuclear rat, release me." Cyres demanded as she tried to pry Mel's arms from her body. Mel looked at Cyres and poked her breasts before dashing off. "Mel, you immature little idiot!"

Cyres shot a bolt of ice speeding through the air, missing Mel's running form by millimeters. The other members watched with blank stares as the Cyres continued to launch the icy spikes at the energetic girl. Ruby laughed as she watched them, observing Mel's erratic movements and energy. Weiss facepalmed and turned away as Akaia simply sighed.

"Welcome to ROCK…" Akaia muttered to the four girls, which Ruby was already occupied by laughing at the small brawl before her. She then turned to Rio and Blake huddled in the corner, both with their faces in a book of some kind.

"Mel, I believe that's her name." Weiss started watching Mel climb onto Cyres by the larches of her cuirass. "Is a hazardous mix of Ruby and Yangs immaturity."

"And Cyres is more like you, but nicer." Yang shouted at Weiss over the cries and curses left by the two raging members of ROCK.

"I beg your pardon?" Weiss turned to Yang, who only smiled back and waved.

"Nothing~" Yang began whistling, swearing that she saw Weiss's eye twitch.

Akaia watched as Mel tackled Cyres and slammed them both to the ground and Mel landed on top of Cyres, but rebounded after striking the metal cuirass.

"So I heard General Ironwood is coming to help again." Weiss said as she walked next to Akaia, who peered from her high pauldrons to see the shorter girls face. "The new androids."

A laugh came from Akaia, causing Weiss to snap her head to the older machine.

"What's so funny about it?" Weiss demanded as Akaia paused and look at her.

"Sorry, I was rebuilt by the White Fang, but against Ironwood's creations, they are scrap metal to repair my frames." Akaia snickered before clearing her throat. "Anyways, I wouldn't trust him if I were you, he's shady in many ways."

"How so?" Weiss eyed Akaia with uncertainty. "He and my father worked together-"

"Just don't, he's really… convincing." Akaia continued. "Just don't ask, you'll find out yourself."

"Do you have something against him?" Weiss leaned on the railing as several ships appeared in the distant night sky.

"Hate him." Akaia simply said before walking away and paused halfway to the opening of the watchtower. "Lets say he tore me a new framework last we met."

Weiss watched Akaia leave, taking the entrance to the watchtower. She let Akaia's words stick in her mind for a bit before looking away.


	11. II - The Living Natural Disasters

SO we are back and we are currently having some editing issues so expect slow uploads. - RKT.

* * *

><p>Mel looked at her team besides her on the arena, they looked anxious of what they have to go against. Looking around she can see all the students that gathered for class and eager to see the display.<p>

"Which team are we going against Professor?" Cyres asked politely, her helmet tucked under her arm, her other hand tapping against Icentooth.

"You have five teams to go against." Professor Goodwitch said, looking at her scroll, and then back at Cyres. The bell rang. "Right on time, for a few more minutes it will begin."

Students flooded the doors and into the stands, all murmuring about the team in the center of the arena. She looked to Cyres as shifted in her place slightly, before slipping on her helmet, it looked like a dragon's face, the slitted mouth across the facial plating emitted frost as the owner breathed. Mel fidgeted and looked over to Akaia's and Rio's helmeted face, but she can sense the unease through their forms.

Over the years, they can tell the training was revamped to a higher degree to fit the ever changing Grimm.

"Attention students!" The everyone looked at the professor, anxious to see what the new people are here for. Professor Goodwitch briefly looked over to ROCK and then back at the students. "Today as you can tell, we have a change of plans, and I have chosen five teams to 'test' their skills out."

A chorus of excitement roared through the students as ROCK cans seem a little bit unsteady about the decision. But they settled down once Goodwitch implanted ROCK's aura gauge, but no images of them.

"Up first, SLBR." She announced as four boys stood from the stands and made their way down to the arena. One of the boys have spiked red hair, tan skin, and ruffled looking clothes that were torn from usage. In his gloved hands were a pair of nunchucks that shifted to daggers. Another taller boy had slicked back black hair and fairly pale skin, wearing white leathery clothing. In his hand was a chakram, pale blue and emitting embers. Behind the two boys stood twins, auburn hair and fair skin spotted with freckles, they had clothing that matched but with opposing pauldrons on their shoulders. they each carried a shield of some kind, they have some kind of malicious glint in their eyes.

Akaia patted Rio's shoulder and whispered something for them to hear.

"Begin!" They heard the professor shout as the four boys charged.

"You guys know what to do." Akaia said, Cyres breathed out a plume of ice and Mel smiled and enveloped them in smoke. "You two can handle them."

"Scatter and bash!" They heard the team leader shout, one of the twins lunged at Mel as she removed all traces of the smoke and jumped into the air.

Akaia and Rio disappeared without a trace.

Cyres blinked out of nowhere and threw her shield into his face- pummeling his aura into the red zone almost immediately.

"Mel!" Cyres shouted as she rolled back, the fiery girl reached to her back, drawing her dual pistols and began firing at the three. "Take them on!"

Mel nodded and lunged again.

_Left, duck and roll!_ Cyres's voice rang in her head.

Ducking and rolling aside, Mel saw the glint of the bladed nunchuck heading towards her face, spinning around she caught the blade in the open slot where the ammunition hold is.

"Not so tough when you can't reload can you?" She heard the red haired boy sneer, a grin plastered on his face. Mel feigned a look of terror. "What's wrong? Can't handle me?"

And her look of horror turned into a wide and dumb grin.

"No." Mel smiled as she ignited her gauntlets and the slots spewed fire out, making the boy spring back as the fire turned into two flaming katanas. "I need no ammo because I'm too hot to be handled."

Mel lunged and grabbed his face with a flaming hand and twisting her body- threw him into the bleachers.

She turned to Cyres and smiled.

"Guess Akaia and Rio is right," Mel shouted as Cyres easily fended off the two on her own, she just kept shuffling along the mat, using no effort to attack. "We can take them on ourselves."

And then one of them managed to scrape their shield across the visor, prompting a response from her.

Their victorious grins faded as her eyes began glowing and her ice shield shifted into a heater shield. Her other hand drew Icentooth's hilt and smashed the bladeless weapon into his head, knocking him out instantly.

"What the hell-" The black hair boy swore before grazing Cyres's shoulder plates, failing to see the ice materialize from thin air and forging into the hilt to create the one-handed nodachi. Then he finds himself with Icentooth's ice forged blade through his shoulder and the shield smashing into his head.

"That was quick." Mel huffed and looked at the unconscious boys at their feet. Cyres only nodded. Mel wiped sweat off her brow and Cyres curtly sheathed her weapons and stood next to her. The medical crews already hauling the downed team off, several with fifth degree burns and severe frostbite. Mel and Cyres's aura did not even dip from 99%.

"That's not fair, the other two wasn't even there!" An orange haired male shouted from the crowd. "And the ice girl didn't help at all."

"That's because you didn't see us." Akaia and Rio both sat on the railings. "We used our semblances to fight, and that does not mean we did not 'appear'."

"Alright, then show us how you fight then." He shouted and pointed at Akaia and Rio.

Akaia patted Rio's shoulder, and fell into her portal of darkness and with Cyres and Mel, leaving Rio standing on the arena.

"Then get your team and see what I can do." Rio said, crossing his arms across the thick breastplate of his.

"Cardin, you and your team down, now." Goodwitch said, displaying the new contestants. Cardin grabbed his mace and jogged down to meet the new fighter.

Rio grinned under his helmet as his armor merged onto him, the pistons hissing and shifting as ventilation and hinges levered from his armor.

_Rio, their weakness is their formations._ Akaia's voice rang in his head.

_Cardin only relies on himself in combat, not his team… well… much_. He heard Cyres's calm voice moments later.

_Good luck Rio~_. Mel's chirpy voice resonated in his head.

"Copy that." He whispered under his breath. His hand reached to his back as the team ran at him. His other arm shot out, shifting into the twin barrel gun and fired.

The boys are smart enough to dodge or deflect the aura infused bullets he fired, giving time for Rio to plan his attack by carefully watching their movements and predicting their strikes.

A boy with green hair thrusted the dagger at his side, only for Rio's baton to slam into his side, knocking him off balance before using his momentum to block impending strikes. All while revealing Vanquisher. The dual bladed galive spun in arcs of pure energy before slamming a black haired boy with a great ax to the ground. A mace grazed the front of his shoulder before he flickered, and disappeared.

And then popped out moments later and landed onto the blonde haired boy.

"Sorry," He said, getting into a kneeling position. "Not sorry."

He saw Cardin run at him, roaring as he knocked his own teammate down. Rio sighed and grabbed his arm, shifting slightly enough to cause the blow to miss entirely and spin around again to ram into the orange haired leader like a football player.

And being rammed by several hundred pounds of metal is not the best feeling.

"That was easy." Rio blinked and got off of Cardin, his armor not even scratched a bit, but his aura went down a little into the 98% range.

The medics went up and gathered the injured team before Rio stepped into the corner of the ring again as Mel and Cyres walked onto the stage again.

"Cyres, I'll help you in this." Mel smiled as Cyres flexed her fingers before walking onto the mat.

"VICK, you're all up." Goodwitch shouted.

Cyres watched as a large great sword wielding girl stood in front of her. Cyres was slightly shortened and looked dwarfed compared to her.

"Get her Vik!" One of the girls shouted as the tall girl stabbed the greatsword into the mat and look at Cyres with green eyes. Cyres smiled behind her helmet and curtly bowed, hearing a growl as she felt the vibrations of a charging opponent.

She sprawled as the fist sailed above her head, and spun to the side using one arm to fling herself up, planting her feet onto her back, sending the taller girl to the ground.

"Stay still so I can hit you." Cyres heard her growl before pivoting aside, letting the kick miss by a mile.

"No thank you." Cyres grabbed the arm and turned her body, throwing the girl into the railing. "But thanks for the offering."  
>But she underestimated her speed when Cyres was uppercutted by a rock covered fist, sending her into the mat.<p>

"Her aura is still at hundred!" One of the girls shouted. Cyres smiled and spun to her feet, bowing again and began coating herself in ice.

The girl, Vik, rammed her into the ground, completely dwarfing her.

The students gasped as no one can see what happened to Cyres. But slowly, Vik was being lifted off as Cyres can be seen on her back, arms flat out and her knees to her chest, using her legs to push Vik off.

_Mel, now!_ Cyres screamed in her head.

_One fireball coming right up partner!_ Mel replied as the sounds of a flicker can be heard.

"Mel you bloody idiot!" Cyres felt the fireball graze her face.

"Oops, sorry." Mel stuck her tongue out and dodged a punch from one of the other girls. "Hey, watch it, you might hurt someone."

Mel caught her next punch, but was cut short by a knee to her chest and a yank that flipped her off the ground, then slammed back onto the ground. The girl stood over her, twisting her arm with a cackle.

"Ow…" Mel hissed, then ignited her flames, making the brunette step back. Mel turned to her with raging ruby eyes, then rammed into the body with a crushing force. When the girl landed, her teammate landed on top of her, groaning. Mel shot her hand out to Cyres for a high fve, but was only greeted with a sigh and reposition of her sword. Mel pouted and checked for the two remaining girls.

"Take left?" Mel offered. Cyres glanced at her with a chilly gaze, then pointed her rapier towards the carefully advancing girl. Their leader, Mel assumed, Vik, moved towards her. Vik smirked, making Mel's small body become shrimpish compared to her towering figure. Her greatsword rose in the air as she charged with Viking-like energy. Mel retaliated with a surge of flames that coiled around the taller girl.

"ROCK doesn't lose." Mel smirked as she appeared in the flames. She pulled two razor sharp katanas from the flames around them and battered them against the greatsword before her. The katanas exploded upon impact, obscuring Vik's vision with searing hot flames that sprinkled into her eyes.

"My eyes!" Vik's face smashed onto the ground as she heard the sound of chirpy laughter. She felt her arms being yanked back at full force as a heavy boot smashed to the back of her head. Her body began to catch fire, feeling an overwhelming heat eat her body.

"Mel, you bloody idiot!" A heavy force landed on top of the girl, slightly extinguishing the flames.

"We're supposed to give 'em a good fight." Mel looked at the piled bodies to their right.

"Yes, a fight, not fifth degree burns and broken shoulders." Cyres facepalmed.

"Eh." Mel shrugged as the medics took them away. "Sorry girls!"

Mel received frustrated, yet pained groans from VICK. She stared at them for a moment longer with her face set on a dumb, clueless grin. Her attention then turned to Cyres, who sighed and pat her shoulder half-heartedly. Cyres checked their aura meter, which had barely dipped below 95%, most likely because Mel had exerted too much in attempting to burn the girls alive.

"You're hopeless." Cyres led them off the stage and towards Akaia and Rio.

"That was quick…" Rio blinked at the two girls.

"And almost burned down the whole damn place." Akaia commented, making Mel shrug again and giggle before looping her arms around Akaia, who loosened slightly at Mel's touch and hugged her back gently before releasing her.

"And lastly, we have RWBY." Ozpin announced, hearing the crowd cheer even more. The most treasured team of Beacon were now set to brawl, and crowd was beginning to go wild over the excitement.

Team RWBY looked rather nervous against the formerly and still powerful team known. Even after their power display, they easily surpass a upperclassmen team with only one member. Mel rolled her shoulders as Rio flickered into the plane of reality and Cyres reforged Icentooth and dismissed her shield, extending Icentooth into a nodachi. Rio drew Vanquisher again, and his armor hissed and repositioned for more aerodynamic grace. They looked at RWBY, hesitantly getting into position.

"Dibs on Yang." Mel shouted, her gauntlets already on fire, a grin on her face. Lavender and ruby eyes met and they lowered for a comfortable fighting position.

"You and me madam." Cyres bowed to Weiss, who only nodded back as blue met pale icy eyes as Cyres removed her helmet- revealing the scars that cross her face.

Akaia grinned and looked at Rio, who also rolled his shoulders back and stabbed Vanquisher into the ground.

"Blake's mine, sister." Rio said, eyes narrowing slightly. He can hear a soft chuckle form Akaia.  
>"I take on the little rose." Akaia rolled her mechanical neck. "Now…"<p>

Akaia and Rio took a step forward together. Cyres and Mel shuffled back and RWBY went on the defensive.

"Lets see you dodge this." Rio smiled and released a large amount of his semblance. The air felt light as derbies began floating into the air and then suddenly, Ruby, being the lightest one, began floating off the ground. Rio released more of his power, throwing everything not bolted down to the ground, into the air. "Reversing gravity."

Gasps resonated through the arena.

Akaia cracked her neck as Cyres threw a shield over her and Mel.

"For the finale." Akaia stepped in front of Rio and opened her right palm and raised the hand into the air. A immense surge of power flooded the arena as she brought her hand down, slamming everything into the ground, metal became sheets again as the mat lost all padding. Team RWBY fell to the ground, their Auras dropping steadily from Akaia's onslaught. THey watched as Yang tried to push herself up, but Akaia's surge of power forced her back down.

"Extreme gravity pull." Akaia spoke for them to hear before dismissing it. Cyres zipped forward and casted a shower of ice over them, replenishing some of their aura before flickering back to Akaia's side.

"Why did you heal us?" Blake asked as they stood up slowly, looking at them.

Akaia shrugged.

"Where's the fun in that?" ROCK zipped forwards at breakneck speed, forcing RWBY into an all out defensive position. Blades and fist crashed, wits to wits, power to power, and speed to speed.

* * *

><p>Cyres ducked Weiss's thrust, only to counter it with a swipe of her nodachi, grazing the white hair. Cyres, grabbing Weiss by the arm, managed to throw her off balance and into the ground where a glyph rebounded her back, staggering Cyres. Weiss casted a glyph to propel her at Cyres, who was caught off guard by the second blow, had the red dusted Myrtenaster run through her left shoulder, prompting a grunt from Cyres.<p>

"Not sorry!" Weiss shouted before Cyres grabbed the burning rapier with her hand, much to Weiss's surprise and managed to cut her back without her knowing. Cyres's nodachi flicked between them, forcing Weiss to jump back. Raising her rapier, Weiss stabbed the air instead.

"What the-" She felt a gloved hand grab her by the back of her neck and slam her into the mat. But Weiss kicked her leg out, hitting Cyres in the hip, causing her to grunt. Kicking herself up, Weiss ducked a blow from Icentooth, the ice sword inches from gutting her.

"Gotcha." Cyres's cold and icy breath tickled her neck, causing Weiss to jump away as the ice sword sliced a thin line of red on her pale skin.

Glyph after glyph and blow after blow they repeated until Cyres managed to interrupt the heiress in her casting. The heiress whipped around to see the helmeted face staring into her, paralyzing her as pain ran through her wielding shoulder. But she managed to stab her rapier through the metal cuirass, but not enough to draw blood.

Cyres had managed to break her aura and wound her with a ice lance, moved by a flick of her wrist.

"My other semblance is minulpliation." Cyres whispered before hitting her in the side with the blunt edge of Icentooth.

Weiss was out of the fight, and Cyres only reached 83%.

* * *

><p>Rio hefted Vanquisher to parry a swift, calculated strike from Gambol Shroud. The faunus grunted as her weapon ricocheted off Rio's weapon and boomeranged back to her nimble hands. But she did not expect him to be able to move so fast and ram into her with the inhumanly thick pauldrons.<p>

"Rule one," Rio flickered behind Blake as she was airborne. "Do not assume I am slow."

His gun arm fired a cannon like missile, only to be countered by a clone. Blake growled and slashed Gambol Shroud across his chest, mentally cheering as the metal started to scratch under her rapid blows.

They repeated with shuffle and blow after blow, trying to wear one another down as best as they can. Rio's armor only suffered small scratches here and there while Blake's Aura repeatedly gave way to Rio's blows, but it only slowly depleted her aura. Blake was put on the defensive, only managed to block so many of the breakneck speed of the older Huntsman's blow.

"You'll be surprised of what I can use right now." She heard Rio mutter as the derbies around them flew into the air and flew over to Blake.

But she was a clone as well. Giving out a frustrated growl, Rio's eyes began glowing as he spun around, striking the real Blake behind with the blunt end of Vanquisher.

"Dispel and all seeing." Rio's eyes stopped glowing behind the helmet. "No one can hide from it."

The faunas only smirked and threw Gambol Shroud behind Rio and tugged the ribbon, firing the weapon at his back.

But Rio sighed as the weapon embedded itself into his thick hide, only going in a mere quarter inch. His gun arm shifted into a rapid fire crackling power-fist as he smashed it into Blake's side as soon as the fire from Gambol shroud was heard.

He looked at the defeated opponent at his feet and back at the aura gauges. His aura fell only a mere nine percent from full power he saved.

* * *

><p>Ruby felt the twin claws graze over her scythe, the glowing blades dangerously close to stabbing her in the eye if she did not fire a round into Akaia's chest, making a small hole in the triple layers of metal. She had underestimated Akaia's ability in combat, because it is so rarely seen by others.<p>

And it is damn terrifying. Her gauntlets, Leviathan and Behemoths screech as she slice the air, and her helmet only mirrors the weapon's insanity.

Aiming Crescent Rose, she fired a round that scraped Akaia's left pauldron, but the machine lef no opening as the leader of ROCK shuffled and threw a right hook, Leviathan scraping over her head, but the wind was like Yang's punch, sending the young leader to the ground.

But no one expected Akaia to be so damn fast- and deadly at once.

Akaia is using her flickering ability to land invisible blows without being seen as moving, her strikes are more brutal than a ton of rocks falling onto one person.

But Ruby flashed away at the last blow, slashing her scythe through Akaia's chest, scoring the metal armor. Everyone gasped as the armor bore a large gash through it, but the machine was unfazed when

Don't waste time." Akaia grabbed Ruby's shoulder and flipped the speedy girl over.

"I was merely observing." Ruby retorted, using her speed to go against Akaia, leaving rose petals in their wake.

Sparks flew as metal met metal and bullets met cannon.

But no one expected the leader of RWBY to be thrown across the stage unconscious after mere minutes of fighting.

* * *

><p>Mel stepped forward to face the lavender-eyed blonde before her. They both narrowed their eyes dramatically, then smirked playfully at each other.<p>

"We meet again." Mel said, letting her flames instantaneously ignite.

"Bring it on." Yang lifted her gauntlets.

"Satisfaction guaranteed." Mel said in a jovial tone, then rushing forward at breakneck speed to collide fists with Yang. A ring of fire swept the arena and Yang grabbed Mel to hurl her to the ground. The smaller girl flung her legs out to catch Yang by the jaw, knocking her backwards. Although Yang was quick to get to her feet, Mel was first to smash her flaming fist into Yang's cheek, hearing a reaction from the audience. Yang flew across the arena, with a billow of smoke and dust to follow. Mel glared into the cloud, then noticed two beams of red shooting from the soot. She readied her position, then took on a full force punch from the blonde brawler, with flames shooting everywhere, blinding the entire room.

"I lost two strands of hair!" They heard from the flames.

"You ripped my trench coat!" The fire intensified, slowly beginning to turn to a vivid orange and transform the arena into a living oven. For those that could see, heard both ROCK and RWBY shout to take over, and within several seconds, the sun finally collapsed and two girls were left, with a scorched arena and areas that still were lit aflame. When the remaining debris cleared, Mel sat atop Yang's back, and despite the massive amount of aura they had released, Yang's dropped to a dead zero, while Mel had kept hers to well over 80%. Three shields, ice, darkness and white covered the other six fighters in the arena. And one by one, they lowered, revealing the sweating members under.

"Mel, you use up way too much aura." She heard Cyres's voice from their cover.

"But she ripped my trenchcoat." Mel help up her coat with a pouting face. ROCK sighed and jumped up to reunite with their final team member. Mel poked Yang, who groaned and accepted her hand in assistance.

"Sorry friend." Mel grinned at her, earning a tired, trusting smile in return from the blonde.

Mel looked over to their aura meters, Akaia, Rio, and Cyres's once 90's pummeled to the low 70%, Cyres a low 50%, exerting both in protecting themselves and the defeated RWBY members. They looked at Mel, who only sheepishly chuckled, then felt Yang punch her shoulder. Mel be ar hugged her friend, hearing Yang cringe at her tight hug.

"Alright, that was awesome." Mel bounced from Yang to Cyres and hugged her with her sooty and sweaty body.

"Get off of me, you bloody idiot." Cyres tried to pry Mel from her, but it was to no avail. She only succeeded in smearing more soot into her clothing, then sighed irritably as Mel grinned at her.

* * *

><p>While in the Beacon infirmary, Mel had to get some bandages and Cyres had to get the hole in her shoulder patched up. Rio was busy sitting in a tub of ice and Akaia trying to fix herself.<p>

"Hey guys!" Mel jumped in front of them.

"Hey." The excitement was short-lived, earning more of a grunt from Rio and Akaia. "Wow you seem happy."

Mel plopped onto Cyres's bed to poke her, hearing a soft grunt in her sleep before giggling and turning towards the siblings. Mel looked over to Rio and grinned at him, then left for several minutes, allowing them to have several moments of silence. The red-head returned with four bags of ice, then tore them all open to dump into the tub that Rio sat in.

"You melted a lot of it." Mel commented. "Want me to help?"

Mel walked over to Akaia's side. Akaia only managed to saw the solid plate of her fused knee and thigh roughly, exposing the bundles of damaged wiring under.

"You owe me a new frame later on." Akaia said to Mel, who only grinned and placed a hand on the ruined knee and began remodeling the metal with her aura's help. Mel slowly worked her way through the damaged parts on Akaia's body, balancing out when to add more ice into Rio's tub. He would thank her shortly before returning to sitting in silence in his icy tub.

"Not bad." Akaia moved her repaired parts and extended her knee. Mel smiled and hopped away, happily aiding other patients. "Don't blow up the-"

"Hey guys!" A explosion of pink and fire flew out afterwards.

"Too late." Rio facepalmed.


	12. II - Windows open, Hearts Closed

We are back with a newer and happier laid back chapter :D - RKT

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><p>Rio sat on their new bed, their new room in the nice upper class dorms. A perfect view of Vale at the highest room available only for them. Styled like barracks with a large room where almost everything fitted, beds, tables with holographic screens and their makeshift living room. They had a working kitchen and a rather bigger bathroom to share. Outside was a balcony and a roosting nest for Hazurfurn, who made himself quite well under the night sky.<p>

The back 'living quarters' was split in four, four beds, four paintjobs and four different styles of sleeping. The tables were fitted under the ice made bunk beds as they each had their own space.

Akaia's table had oil and other repair tools with some other stuff like notes on the metal table.

Rio was similar, but with added bookshelves next to the mahogany table. Vanquishers compact form was laid onto the extended ice tray, securing his weapon.

Cyres's own table was made from white wood, neatly filed papers sat on the side as Icentooth sat on the sheath that extended from her ice bed.

As expected, Mel's bed was unruly, considering her amount of tossing and turning while sleeping. Her desk had nothing more than what was needed, yet not quite organized pleasingly.

Rio was on his bed, in his sleepwear and with his nose in a book. Cyres was outside admiring the scene of the night city, Hazurfurn beside her, his old body showing no signs of fatigue. Akaia was busy hanging her armor on the rack next his, the metal all repaired and gleaming. His sister kept a pair of pants on instead of just briefs this time.

A knock on the door alerted the siblings.

"Come in." Rio shouted as the metal door opened.

"Hey guys!" Mel bounded into the room and leaped into Rio's bed. She looked to see the words on the current page for a second before Rio pulled it away.

"Why do you have to be in my bed?" He asked.

"Yours is closest to the door, and on the bottom." Mel reasoned with a smile.

"Where were you?" Akaia raised an eyebrow at her. The fiery girl only winked and kept quiet after a short giggle. She ruffled Rio's hair, then jumped off the bed.

"Wait up!" A blur of rose petals flew into the room, but cut short as Ruby paused in the middle of the room and looked around at the barrack styled dorm.

"Wait up sis-" Yang ran in moments later, and nearly hit the wide-eyed girl. Looking up, lavender eyes widened and her jaw went slack. "Woah…."

Yang and Ruby cowered under Akaia's intimidating figure, who crossed her arms.

"Really guys? This was supposed to be quick!" Mel stood on the sill again. "Oh."

Her fiery wings burst into wisps, then she jumped down to land on Akaia's back, making her stumble.

"God damnit Mel."Akaia grumbled.

"Akaia's off limits." Mel wrapped her legs around her waist, then kissed her cheek.

"Oh yeah, you're together." Ruby perked up, regaining her beaming personality.

"Yep." Mel winked.

Akaia sighed as Mel unlatched herself from her and joined Ruby and Yang, who were still busy admiring the room.

"We'll be back later." Mel shouted an gathered Yang and Ruby under her arms and stepped to the window sill.

"W-Wait!" Ruby started to freak out and held onto Mel's trenchcoat for safety.

"See ya later!" Mel dropped back and fell into the courtyard below with the screams of Yang and Ruby behind her. Akaia sighed heavily.

* * *

><p>"It's late, I don't think a lot of shops are open." Mel looked around. The night was cool and the streets were empty, save for the few late-night stragglers.<p>

"Yeah, but we could go to the arcade." Yang offered, earning quick attention. "What?"

"Vale has an arcade?" Mel and Ruby glared at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah, it's over there." Yang pointed around the corner.

"Yang!" Ruby pouted. "You could have told me about it!"

"Sorry sis." Yang chuckled sheepishly. The three of them turned the corner and stood outside the arcade. Yang opened the door for the other two, then entered herself.

"Wow!" Ruby was transfixed on the flashing lights.

"Want to get a drink?" Yang looked at Mel, who glanced around the large room, filled with a myriad of games and little to no people.

"Sure." Mel grinned as Yang draped an arm around her and grinned back.

"Drink's on me." Yang pointed to herself and winked at the smaller girl.

"Sis, I'm going to go play the claw game." Ruby was already at the token machine, sliding in bills in exchange for the silver tokens.

"Sure, we're going to get a drink." Yang smiled at her sister. Ruby nodded and dashed off.

"So, what are we getting?" Yang led Mel to a stool at the bar. "Nothing alcoholic, Akaia's gonna kill me."

"Alright, I was just gonna get us a margarita, no alcohol." He barista nodded and turned to make the drinks. Yang looked over Mel's shoulder to see Ruby jumping into the air as she grabbed something in the claw machine. Yang smiled, then looked at Mel, who smiled at her. She leaned closer to Yang, making her lean back slightly. Was it getting warmer?

"You have pretty eyes." Mel smiled at Yang.

"Thanks-" Yang stared at Mel, then jumped up when the barista slammed the drinks onto the counter.

"Thanks." Mel said to him, in which he grunted in response.

* * *

><p>Ruby practically glowed with happiness as she walked down the streets back to Beacon with her arms full of stuffed animals. Mel grinned as she walked alongside Ruby with her hands stuffed in her trenchcoat pockets, due to the colder weather. Yang stood on the other side of Ruby with her arms folded behind her head, gazing to the starry night sky.<p>

"So how was it Rubes?" Yang smiled at her sister.

"It was awesome! You two should have played more games!" Ruby's eyes sparkled at the older girls.

"We played the zombie game." Yang rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smirk.

"But that's all you played, just shooting." Ruby pouted, then turned to Mel, who pat her head.

"We can just go out again." Ruby beamed behind her arms full of stuffed animals.

"Really?" Ruby looked at the two girls.

"Yeah." Mel ruffled Ruby's hair, then hugged Yang in appreciation. "Thanks for tonight."

At that moment, they arrived back at Beacon and Mel waved them a final goodbye, before growing her wings and flying up to her room.

* * *

><p>They stirred when the alarm went off, Akaia turned the time to later since they are excused from classes of any kind and work on formalizing themselves again after all the years.<p>

Mel yawned as a tiny spite of fire rose into the air, sitting up, her messy hair stuck up in random places.

"Morning guys." Mel greeted and looked as Akaia roused from her sleep, mechanical limbs creaking and her remaining eye turning on.

"Afternoon you mean." Cyres muttered, throwing the pillow into Mel's face, making the girl fall to the bed and lay there.

"It's 11:59." Mel hung her head over the side of the bed, making Cyres throw another pillow at her face. Mel plopped back into her bed and stared at their white ceiling. "And it's a Saturday."

She heard Cyres sigh, but no one seemed to move. Mel smiled slightly and jumped from her bed and stood in the middle of their room.

"I'll get… brunch." Mel announced and dashed off.

Rio and Akaia plopped back on the bed and began snoring softly. Smiling, Cyres took out the scroll next to her bed and messaged Mel to bring some food back since the two decided to sleep again. She sent the message and then placed it back on the side of her bed and pulled the covers over her shoulders once again.

Needless to say, she did miss about three hours of her beauty sleep this morning.

* * *

><p>Cyres yawned as she turned away from the wall. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to look at the time. She let her hands rest at her side, feeling something soft and comfortable. She snuggled against the warmth, then slowly opened her eyes as she became curious to the object. Blue eyes gazed up to meet jovial ruby, trying to suppress her laughter.<p>

"Mel-" Mel hushed her by pressing her hand to Cyres's mouth. "What are you doing in my bed?"

Cyres had returned to scolding Mel with a harsh whisper.

"I brought you brunch." Mel grinned at her, then Cyres pulled her hands away, once she realized she still had them around the fiery girl.

"I asked why you were in _my _bed." Cyres glared at her. Mel blinked at her.

"I got cold while I was waiting for you three to wake up." Mel's dumb smile returned.

"You have three other beds to choose from." Cyres facepalmed.

"Akaia takes up a lot of the bed 'cuz of her armor, but I could go lay on her chest." Mel nodded at her own thoughts.

"Then why don't you?" The pale eyed princess stared at her.

"I don't feel like moving now." Mel giggled and emit more of her warm aura. "It's kind of fun to watch you sleep."

"Pervert." Cyres kicked Mel off her bed after she had wrapped her arms around the icy princess. "You have three seconds to get out."

"But your bed is warm!" Mel pouted, surprised that Akaia and Rio hadn't awoken to her crashing to the ground. Cyres glared at her before freezing her bed over in ice.

"Go sleep in your own bed." Cyres turned away. Mel sighed, then looked to Rio's bed.

"Rio's warm." Mel chuckled to herself and tucked her body next to Rio's.

* * *

><p>"U-um… Mel…" Rio panicked and blushed slightly as he sat up with Mel clinging to him like a baby animal. "M-Mel…"<p>

"You look like a sloth." Cyres smiled and took a picture with her scroll. Rio sighed and tried to pry the girl off but she only groaned and hug tighter.

"Akaia?" Rio called out slightly, turning around to see his sister's shoulders rise as she bursted into soft laughter. "Little help here?"  
>"No." Akaia smirked and watched as Rio flickered away, letting Mel land on the mattress instead. The short girl stirred and revealed the sleepy ruby eyes, seeing the team all looking at her.<p>

"Mel, we can get ramen after we all get up." Cyres said, picking up a plate of syrup drenched pancakes and grabbed a fork.

"Ramen!" Mel shot up instantly, and jumped onto Cyres's back, clinging to her like a sloth. "Can we go to that one fancy, schmancy place!"

Cyres nearly dropped her food before gathering her balance and let the younger girl wrap her arms and legs around her slender body.

"You mean Shinjuku Zen?" Cyres sighed and slightly smiled. "Sure. Only if you don't trash the place."

"Yay!" Mel smiled and turned to Rio, who was already munching on bacon with some toast on the side. Akaia was busy digesting oil slick food and bread to clean the pipes in her body. Mel hopped off Cyres and onto Akaia's lap, wrapping her arms around Akaia's neck and kissing the machine's metal teeth.

"Alright, we'll go." Akaia sighed, reaching to grab a pair of pants and a vest.

Moments later, ROCK was dressed and ready. Akaia in a pair of black jeans held with a belt and chains. Her vest was unzipped and revealed the mechanical body underneath. Rio wore something similar, gray jeans, sneakers, and a black polo. INstead of a vest, he wore a hoodie that had a two headed aquila on the back. Cyres had a white button up blouse and a light blue skirt that reached mid-thigh. Her hair was let down than the usual top-knot. Mel bounced around in her casual wear, making ROCK sigh. Her unruly red streaked hair flopped around, which just so happened to match with her attire. Black cargo shorts with a simple red v-neck shirt.

"Ready?" Mel jumped in front of her team. They gave her a small smile.

* * *

><p>"Japanese food!" Mel jumped in front of the restaurant. Several people stared at her energetic nature and shifted slightly. Mel only waved at them with a smile, then turned back to her team. "Akaia, scare them so we can get seated faster."<p>

"If I don't make them shit their pants…" Akaia muttered to herself.

"Using our strength like this is immoral." Cyres scolded Mel, who only chuckled and walked up to the waitress. They spoke for a few seconds before Mel scrawled her name down on a clipboard.

Once they sat down, Mel and Cyres already started bickering about the food they were going to eat.

"Something healthy." Cyres scolded Mel as the young girl chose mochi and dango's over real nutritious food. "Not sweets, that can give you cavities."

"Says the ravenous queen." Mel rolled her eyes and checked out the food she wanted after Cyres. "Of course you would have tofu and three platters of sushi."

"I know you wanted that too." Cyres placed the holographic menu down and playfully punched the girl. "Order another platter of eel and tuna."

Akaia and Rio sighed and looked over the menu after, and looked over the suggestions.

"One large plate of sashimi and crabs." Rio smiled and passed the menu to Akaia after he finished.

"I guess tempura and shrimp." The mechanized fingers tapped some words and then pressed 'send'. She snuck in some orders of ice cream and dango's for the team. Setting the tablet down, Akaia cringed slightly at the thought of the possible bill, but realized that it is covered by Beacon for now.

"Is that a challenge?" Akaia listened in on Mel and Cyres's conversation.

"Not quite." Cyres hid a smug smile.

"I don't think this is the place for it…" Rio looked between the two girls.

"Why not?" They looked at him. Rio looked around the restaurant.

"It's sushi, so its expensive and Ozpin might yell at us for going overboard." Rio watched as a few more people walked through the glass door.

"Then we'll settle this somewhere else." Mel glanced at Cyres with a smile. "Ice cream?"

"Biscuits." Cyres flashed a pompous smile.

"Fine." Mel shrugged, then grinned at Cyres.

"Berk." Cyres rolled her eyes and began pounding tea for the three.

The food came in with thee patrons each holding two plates each. Mel and Cyres squealed in joy, while Akaia and Rio smiled and began digging into their first real meal together in years. Mel began swallowing food whole as she began picking them up on her chopsticks and Cyres started inhaling food as she can.

They paused when Akaia and Rio stared at them with surprised faces. Rio's chopstick dropped as Akaia's jaw dropped slightly. Cyres giggled and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Just because I act all dainty, does not mean I eat like Mel or Ruby and Nora." Cyres smiled and sipped her tea casually.

"Sometimes the ice queen just has to let it go." Mel nudged Cyres. She sighed and punched Mel lightly, making her giggle.

"You knew?" Rio looked between the two girls, then focused on Mel.

"Yeah, duh." Mel chugged down her water before returning to scarf down her food. Akaia continued to stare at the girls, awestruck at Cyres's hidden appetite. Their waitress walked by and smiled at the team, then proceeded to fill their nearly empty glasses of water.

"You all seem closer since you've been missing. Especially you two." She giggled, then looked up to see shocked faces. "Oh- I'm sorry…"

She bowed shyly and walked away. The team looked down at their food and ate in silence for a few minutes. No one had actually brought up the topic of their separation although it had occurred quite a while ago; it was still a touchy subject. Mel and Cyres nearly let out a physical shiver when they thought back to their days of torturous days of confinement. Rio stared silently at his food, only picking up a grain of rice every so often. Akaia stayed silent, holding her glass tighly until it shattered under the pressure-

And Mel was the first to laugh. Cyres soon followed and Rio smiled. Akaia couldn't help but try her best to conceal her smile.

"Thanks for _breaking _the silence Akaia." Mel chuckled and returned to her usual effervescent mood. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating again delightfully. Cyres shook her head with a smile and slowly returned to her large platter, which she would often scold Mel for picking off of.

"Order your own, you moocher." Cyres smashed her hand onto Mel's face.

"Aw Cyres, but sharing is caring~" Mel pulled her hand away and grinned at Cyres. She turned to Akaia for a moment. "No one came to clean your glass."

"I guess not." Akaia shrugged slightly and went back to chewing her tempura.

"_Clearly._" Mel winked, making Akaia roll her eyes and grab a napkin to crumple up and throw at the smaller girl.

"Eat your food." Rio smiled, gulping down fried shrimp in a gulp. Akaia only munched on her tempura and savor the burst of flavor in her mouth before swallowing it whole.

Then the same waitress returned with a rather big plate that is filled with all the restaurant has to offer in terms of deseret, making Mel's mouth water at the sight of it.

"I kinda snuck some more in for you guys." She whispered before setting it down, her small wolf ears flicked slightly as a small smile played on her face. "Kinda as a gift for saving me a few years back at the protest."

"Akaia, that was years ago." Cyres chided her.

"Yeah." Mel nodded, keeping her eyes on the dessert. Akaia noticed Mel practically drooling over the desserts already. She smirked and leaned over to whisper in Mel's ear, since they sat at a circular table for convenience.

"You know what tastes sweeter?" Mel blushed and punched Akaia full on the shoulder, making her reel back and rotate her joint to ensure that the smaller girl had not dislocated it.

"Akaia, we're in public!" Mel tried to compose herself after seeing one of the few breaks in Akaia's usual stoic behavior. Akaia kept her smirks and chuckles to herself and watched her two teammates indulge on the sweets. Eventually, Mel looked to Akaia and offered her an ice cream mochi. Akaia at first wanted to decline, but Mel offered again and Akaia leaned over to eat the entire thing. Mel giggled and leaned in to lick the cream from the corners of Akaia's mouth, then pulled away and winked at her leader.

"Says you." Akaia grunted, throwing a shrimp tail at her. Mel smiled and ducked it, and returned with a small smoke ball that exploded in Akaia's face, making her sneeze.

"Bless you." Mel giggled, stuffing her cheeks with mochi and other foods. Akaia shook her head and began biting into sticky rice cakes that was on the plate.

Mel wiped her mouth as she sat back, patting her full belly with her hand.

"I'm stuffed." Mel sighed happily before Cyres finished her last mochi and burped slightly. Akaia let her acid coated tongue run over her metal and lipless teeth. Rio sat back, burping and wiping his mouth before finishing the hot tea.

"Check please." Cyres asked a passing waiter. He nodded and set off. Cyres turned back to her team. "Well no one knows we're together again and back."

"And better than ever." Mel grinned and took out a paper Yang had given her a day ago. And check out, there's the Vytal Tournament coming up in two months."

Everyone but Akaia looked at the paper, out of curiosity, Rio, Cyres and Mel began smiling and whispering between themselves. Then looked at Akaia for any opinion as they handed her the paper.

"Should we join?" Cyres looked at Akaia, who looked at it last. She only blinked and set the paper down.

"Yeah, but we should ask Opzin first." Akaia replied, handing the paper back to Mel.

"Aw Akaia, don't be like that." Mel sighed and turned to Cyres. "Let's do it."

Rio and Cyres looked to each other, then back at Akaia and Mel.

"Maybe we should ask Ozpin…" Rio smiled nervously at the others.

"What the hell guys, we were all in for it a second ago." Mel complained. "Is this like Akaia's democracy now?"

The waiter slid the check onto their table. Akaia picked it up and looked at the bill. She glared at Mel and Cyres for a split second, then slid a card into the folder. Akaia handed it to a passing waiter.

"Stop complaining Mel, it's not that hard to go ask Ozpin." Akaia leaned over the table and sighed. Mel looked at Akaia and the rest of her team. She sat down and remained silent for the course of the rest of the time they waited for their receipt. Without Mel talking, the group was drowned in utter silence.

* * *

><p>R&amp;R please :3 I'm sorry the chapters are so long...<p> 


	13. II - The Arena Goes Boom Again

"Did you hear that, we are able to participate!" Mel latched onto Akaia with a high jump, knocking the cyborg over and fall into a heap of armor and coats flying.

"I feel bad for Akaia." Cyres whispered to Rio, who meekly nodded as his sister rose to her feet with Mel clinging onto her back.

"To the mess halls!" Mel pointed and urged Akaia to walk on, the leader sighing before her armor flickered off, leaving the helmet on and throwing Mel off.

Rio, Cyres and Akaia was quite surprised at the renovated mess hall. Certainly it looked more olden when they were here, but it looked more modern and fitting to the aged academy still.

And the first thing they noticed was that Mel was already gone.

"Where'd that girl go?" Cyres looked around the filled room for the fiery girl.

Mel was already busy zipping around to gather a rather tall stack of pancakes and biscuits.

"Found her." Rio pointed without his eyes leaving his book. Cyres's stomach rumbled at the smell of fresh pastry.

"Forget her, I'm going to grab some bangers, fresh baps and some fiz." Cyres sauntered over to the empty line, her Beacon uniform's skirt swaying with her step.

"Dibs on the eggs and steak." Rio smiled and left Akaia to stare into the crowds.

* * *

><p>"I'm back!" Mel chirped and slammed her plate next to Akaia, making her look to the smaller girl.<p>

"Let's hope you don't get a massive stomach ache from that." Akaia sighed.

"Well hello to you too." Mel blinked at her as she chewed the pancakes ravenously.

Akaia sighed and began munching on oily bacon, crunching the flaky and crisp edges. The oil slid down her throat easily with the acids dripping down after to clean the pipes for the new food to pass through.

"The food still tastes the same." Cyres commented, gulping down her glass of tea. Her plate was lined with a traditional biscuits, eggs, sausages and a few mashed potatoes.

"It's better than nothing." Rio spoke soon after, chewing through his eggs and sausages before swallowing.

"Hey Mel!" A voice piped up behind them, making Cyres nearly jump out of her seat, Rio nearly choked on his food and Akaia almost spitted acid everywhere.

"Hey Ruby! Hey Nora!" Mel smiled warmly with half a pancake dangling from her stuffed cheeks. The two girls ran towards their elder.

"What are we doing today?" Nora jumped in excitement.

"Baking? Team strategies?" Ruby drooled at the thought of cookies.

"Oh but first!" Nora pointed at ROCK's every member excitedly, causing the three to look up at her. "Are you guy's going to participate in the Vytal Tournament?"

Akaia nodded, munching on her final piece of her waffle.

"Yeah, we qualified." Rio said, but was instantly cut off by the squeal of Ruby and Nora.

"Oh my gosh," Ruby jumped happily, a wide grin plastered on her face. "We can see the legendary team duke it out one on one!"

Akaia only flinched slightly at their sheer volume of their voice.

"Does that mean we can watch you guys train?" Nora vibrated in her place, making Mel seem less crazy compared to her.

"Perhaps." Cyres said, wiping her mouth after guzzling down the drink in one swing. "How about one after classes?"

A smile appeared on their faces before they bolted off to tell their team.

"Sounds reasonable." Akaia spoke, cracking her back and neck.

* * *

><p>ROCK stretched on the arena mat, unarmed and ready for hand-to-hand practice with the other two teams. Mel trotted around the arena, making her aura meter rise up as fuel to burn. Cyres sprawled on the ground before spinning to her feet and continue to train on her jujutsu more. Rio and Akaia meditated in the corner, linking their powers to a certain degree before realspace and time began warping.<p>

"Is training hand-to-hand against that much weapons better?" Cyres asked, brushing her robes off and looked at the siblings before Akaia's eyes flicked to her.

"If we are disarmed and our aura is drained, that is out last resort." Akaia spoke under her mask, a slight sarcasm rang in her voice. She is right to some degree, Cyres was not the best hand-to-hand fighter like the rest of her team, but rather relied on her support of shield and allies.

"Or you can take off your mask and everything will be sent running." Rio smiled at her. "Even the earth under us."

"I'm not _that_ scary." Akaia emphasized, and both of them rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, I don't mind hugging you." Mel had suddenly appeared and hung from Akaia's shoulder like a monkey. She leaped off towards Rio, who caught her out of his reflexes. "Thanks!"

Mel grinned at him and chirped, then he set her down on the ground.

"Alright, I nominate them, team ORKA." Mel pointed at a team composed of a handsome, brown haired boy, whose hair was perfectly gelled and had his chin covered in stubble. He smirked as he readjusted his brown leather jacket lined with faux fur and looked over to Mel. Turquoise eyes and ruby clashed, each with their calmly malicious smile masking their hidden desire for victory as he held up his dual sided sword and let it break apart, giving it a similar figure to Gambol Shroud. Mel quickly scanned the group to see an orange haired girl, whose curly locks of fire drooled over the sharp shoulders coated with a tight black v-neck shirt. Surprisingly, she had noticed Mel's staring and turned around, showing her young face and her electric green snake eyes, contradicted with a seductive, pretty smile as she flicked her hand at Mel, showing metal snakes coiled around her arm that had metal spikes protruding from it and a long, barbed blade that extended at either side from the mouth of the snake as well as gun barrels at the top. The girl held onto a tall boy, with an incredibly muscular build, showing off his large protruding biceps through his black long sleeve shirt that was topped with a camo shirt. His dirty blonde hair was shaved short and kept his firm hulking figure authoritative and stern. He scratched his large back that housed his massive blade, wider in width than Mel's head and a dual bladed axe at both ends that stood less than two feet short of Mel's height. He rotated his shoulders and pulled out his axe, most likely for a quick warm up and ease the soon to come transformation when the axe whirred and folded until it covered his left hand and forearm with a quadruple axe bladed cannon. The final member turned to her, which seemed to be a boy slightly younger than them, who had lavender hair that covered his eyes and seemed to wear a straightjacket that tied his arms in an X across his chest. His most prominent feature was his long black boots, and when he stomped to the ground, Mel could hear him laugh as he shuddered and removed his boot from the ground that showed his deadly blade that had extended from the heel of his shoe. Mel gulped, knowing that the straightjacket must have concealed something within its white shroud.

"You sure?" Cyres raised an eyebrow at Mel and pat her shoulder, almost feeling concern for her friend since she had been staring at the team for moments in silence.

"Yeah, definitely." Mel's fiery grin returned and she pounded her fists together. "Ready to rock this joint."

Akaia and Rio stood, their in armored bodies looked so different and odd, but they held the air of intimidation. Cyres took a low stance, fists unclenching and clenching. Akaia stood rather upright as if she is expecting something. Rio lowered one shoulder as he glared at the heavy man.

ORKA and ROCK clashed, and ROCK immediately became a defensive team. Cyres and Mel made a shield of steam and Rio sprinted through to disrupt the equilibrium of the team before them. Akaia followed through- her aura suppressing them before removing half of her helmets face guard, her ta tactic to cause momentarily paralysis for the rest of ROCK to plan and make the first move.

The bulky man ran out, clashing ax to a bare hand, and at the face of a scowling Rio, unfazed by the contact of skin to metal.

* * *

><p>Cyres calmly watched as the boy in the straight jacket ran at her, his foot collided with her- only to find it was an ice decoy. Her real hand shot out and smashed a ice coated fist into his mask, freezing it over. She glanced over to Mel, who ducked a series of swift slices from the orange haired girl. Mel backflipped, then grabbed her barbed blade with her gauntlets.<p>

* * *

><p>And that left Akaia with that dual sword boy.<p>

Akaia stood straight as she stopped leaning against the ropes and rotated her limbs slightly. They circled one another, observant of their opponent before shifting their weights to attack.

"You move, my friend." He smiled slyly as Akaia began flickering.

"Alrighty then." Akaia sighed, Behemoth and Leviathan shifted into their usual cannon-claw from.

* * *

><p>Cyres watched as his eyes widened and a laugh escaped the frozen mask, her calm expression was the total opposite of his crazed looks.<p>

"Is there ever one day I don't have to deal with people that has a loose bolt?" Cyres signed, forming her shield on her arm. Her other hand formed a ice lance as she poised to deflect any attack.

A laugh was her only response as his arms squirmed under the straightjacket.

* * *

><p>Rio watched the equally large young man in front of him, both of them ready to tackle one another as they stared one another down.<p>

"Your move, pretty boy." His oddly calm and soothe voice resonated through the din of the fights around them. Rio scoffed and summoned his armor around him, without Vanquisher, but with his gun mounted arm instead.

"My pleasure." Rio sprinted, arm cocked back.

* * *

><p>"CANNONBALL!"<p>

"DO NOT -" Every single person in the room paused their fight to scream as Mel bolted to the ground like a meteor- literally.

It was like the Apocalypse has arrived in a purging fire. But worse. Ten times worse.

And nearly a half hour later, the arena shook like an earthquake, drawing attention to all the students to see smoke lazily blowing into the air.

And a chorus of angry voices moments later.

"MEL!"

And a meek reply came soon after.

"Sorry!"

They saw mist seeping though after the smoke as the ice crystals slowly created a layer of frost on the walls and ground.

"Did we win?" Mel fanned away the smoke as small sputters of flames sparked from her fingertips. Akaia walked out from the smoke and smacked Mel behind her head.

"What the hell, you could have annihilated the entire damn arena!" Akaia scorned her. Mel blinked and looked around for her other teammates.

"Well, it was an easy match." Mel flashed a thumbs up at her leader.

"Not much fun according to your standards." Akaia almost rolled her eyes.

"And not to mention the injuries our opponents must have sustained." Cyres jabbed Mel in her side, making her whimper as they icy girl walked past her. Several moments later, Rio appeared from the smoke, coughing and waving the smoke away.

* * *

><p>"Sorry guys." Mel shrugged and grinned at them.<p>

"Just wait for the smoke to clear, you bloody idiot." Cyres punched her arm and stood next to the explosive girl, awaiting any sort of attack, if any.

"Yes ma'am." Mel grinned at her friend.


	14. II - Living Natural Disasters

**We're back~- finals are taking a toll on us and uploads are going slow. DX**

* * *

><p>It was barely the break of dawn when -<p>

"I DO NOT!"

"YES YOU DO!"

The campus was awakened by the two arguing voices in the upperclassmen barack. Hazurfurn nearly rolled off his roost in his rude awakening.

"YOU BLUNDERING, HAZARDOUS IMBECILE!" Ice roared from one end of the barrack, forming sharp icicles that clung to the side of the building.

"YOU COLD HEARTED BITCH!" Fire roared on the opposite end. The fire rivaled the sun's midday glare.

"SHUT UP!" A new voice joined them, and everything became light and unearthly airy. The fire flickered slightly as the bright light began dimming slightly.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Hazurfurn and many other students, opt to cover their heads with a pillow or a ice cacoon. The shouting grew louder.

"GO KISS YOUR BOYFRIEND!"

"SHUT IT!" The ground began rumbling as a sharp crack resonated through the air.

"ENOUGH!" The icicles cracked and broke off as the fire diminished instantly. One can see the old wyvern shrink slightly at the new voice.

"Oh… Akaia…" Cyres cleared her throat.

"Akaia!" Mel grinned at her, earning a hard glare from their leader. "Aw, don't be so-"

"What are you even arguing about?" Akaia barked.

"I don't know-" Mel was cut off by Cyres's voice.

"This imbecile nearly killed everyone in the stadium, how could anyone forget?" Cyres raised her voice again, overpowering Mel's voice. "And this airhead lets it off like we weren't disqualified! The nerve!"

"Hey Cyres, getting DQ'd isn't that bad." Mel smiled.

"Not that bad? Melanie Okumura, how is getting disqualified 'not that bad'?"

"It can add to your 'bad girl streak'." Mel giggled and winked at her, making her scoff in annoyance.

"Could you please stop arguing?" Rio stepped in and adjusted his tie, with a book in hand.

"Sure thing Rio~" Mel purred and leaped onto the nearest chair she could find before producing a granola bar from her trenchcoat pocket. Akaia sighed, taking in the peaceful atmosphere now that her teammates had finished shouting at each other. Cyres groaned and walked off, still visibly angry at Mel.

Akaia glared at Mel again and sighed.

"Mel, you cost us our only chance into the tournament, and it's only once every four years." Rio patted Mel's shoulder obviously not really happy with being out of the big game.

"It's just a battle." Mel took a bite of her bar. "We can go again next time."

"There is no next time, we are in the semi-finals automatically for the entertainment." Akaia turned towards Mel. "And you- cost us the whole thing, Opzin actually filled out forms for us to have a shot, and let the world know we are back."

"We can try something else!" Mel grinned deviously, then tossed her bar. "I was thinking-"

"I don't really want to hear it." Akaia sighed, cutting Mel off.

"But I-" Mel only let two words slip from her mouth when Akaia and Rio both sighed. "Maybe we don't need everyone to know we're here, you know, all of our enemies might find out. I guess we could keep low profile, kinda like undercovers spies."

"That's not the point Mel, we got far enough to actually win the tournament, and you just blow the whole thing. We could have won, and it damages our team to know that we lost by disqualification." Akaia explained.

"We can find another way right?" Mel looked at Akaia and Rio. Akaia shook her head.

"How can we when everyone knows?" Akaia's voice lowered at the mention of that. With that, the siblings walked out the dorm. Mel watched them leave and looked down at her burnt, scarred hands.

"I'll find a way…" She whispered to herself, then climbed out of the window. She landed on the soft padding of the old wyvern's roost, the scarred head instantly perking up to look at her. Mist whispered into the air from his nostrils and teeth.

"_Laz an fur lok?_" Hazurfurn's glowing blue eyes met ruby. Mel tilted her head in confusion.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak dragon." Mel said, sitting down in front of the old face. Hazurfurn only let out a huff of mist again. It danced around Mel slightly before vanishing.

"_Elven. is the correct dialect we share._" His head cocked slightly at her. "_Now, is something wrong, young one?_"

"You're pretty calm for a Grimm." Mel responded to his question.

"_Ahh, I am one of the oldest around since the dawn of time, youngling._" Hazurfurn gave a toothy grin. "_I still refer Cyres as a brethren. And I don't know about you…. a fiery, reckless, and arrogant youngling._"

Mel chuckled and looked up at the dragon with interest as he stared at her with wise eyes.

"Does Cyres actually hate me though?" Mel blinked at the wyvern as it huffed.

"_No, I don't believe she does._" Hazurfurn looked at Mel's tiny body compared to his. "_But that is not what brings you here, is it?"_

Mel looked up at him and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Not exactly." She managed to chuckle.

"_You've made another mistake with that reckless attitude of yours._" He suggested, blinking slowly and letting out another breath of ice. Mel bit her lip and tapped the tip of her shoe to the frosted ground.

"What am I supposed to do?"

HAzurfurn only sighed, before looking straight into ruby eyes again.

"_Something only you know._" He said, making Mel look away slightly.

"Like blowing the school up again?" Mel scoffed, making Hazurfurn roll his eyes.

"_I can understand why Cyres will call you 'Idiotic', drak karn,_" Hazurfurn chuckled as Mel pouted. "_And a hazard._"

"Hey!" Mel shouted, pointing accusingly at the wyvern. "If I'm a hazard and what is she?"

Hazurfurn cocked his head a little and hummed.

"_A irck-kuro and whats that word…_" Hazurfrun breathed out a little snowflakes from his nostrils. "_Hazardous._"

"I knew it!" Mel smiled and did a little victory dance. "I'm not the only hazzard!"

Hazurfurn let out a tiny sigh, "_We have two hauxerds…_"

"We have another mission before we can discuss about our issues." Akaia looked over to see Mel and Hazurfurn turned at her.

"Mission?" Mel looked at them with a slight smile.

"From Ironwood." Cyres muttered, tossing Mel her red scroll, who caught it in a vice grip. They waited as Mel finished reading the new task for them and make a call.

"To…. High Ruins?" Mel looked puzzled and at Akaia, who shrugged.

"I don't know where that is." Akaia admitted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nope." Cyres shook her head, her light blue tinged hair swaying slightly.

"Don't look at me." Rio shrugged. Mel sighed and placed the scroll back into her pocket.

"Do you think the library has any idea?" Akaia asked Cyres or Rio.

"Nada, I would've said if there was." Rio threw the book he was reading aside.

"Good point there." Akaia rubbed the bridge of her nose less mask. "Why would he send us on something we have no information to?"

Meanwhile, Cyres walked over to the old wyvern, who was busy grooming his wings.

"Do you know anything about this... High Ruins?"

They heard Hazurfurn shift slightly, his eyes flickered brightly. And dimly as if he was remembering something bad.

"Ironwood said there were strange activities going on there and he wanted us to check it out." Cyres explained to her mentor.

"_Ahh, the High Ruins..." _He spoke fondly, ice whispering into the air. The ground became ice, cocooning them all as his eyes glowed and images formed around them. _"Is a alien ruin from three flagships of different kinds that crashed here long three million years ago, long before the age of man. I was a young wyvern at that time, I searched for anyone that could've survived the crash, but alas, they were no survivors._"

The memory shifted around them to the interior of the broken and smoldering ship, charred metal walls and strange mechanical and human bodies. The walls were lined with strange capsules that blinked red and green, and strange guns littered the rooms.

"_It was something off, the air was foul and lingered with psychic energies." He said. "Some parts were sealed with magic and no one opened it because it became lost to the elements around it..._"

"Any ideas on where it may be?" Mel asked, hoping for an answer to her question. Hazurfurn though for a moment before turning to them.

"_Nay, surn_" He said, seeing their heads drop in frustration. "_The world has changed so much in these years, it is impossible to locate it exactly-_"

"Nearby?" Rio interrupted him.

"_Ay, drak karn its underwater_." Hazurfurn spoke calmly as he looked at their confused faced. "_I did say the world changed over the millions of years._"

Akaia looked at them before sighing, and heard Hazurfurn chuckle as he raised up slightly.

"_Surn ai, when are you all leaving?_" He asked, shifting from leg to leg, stretching out in the morning sun. "_Best to arrive before the fuz ohn, the waves come._"

Mel looked stoned, Cyres did not like the idea of getting her hair wet, Rio would spend his time staring at sea water and Akaia would be busy rusting.

"Well, we should leave." Rio suggested, earning half-hearted gazes.

"I guess." Akaia shrugged. Mel winced and looked over to Cyres, who only kept her posture while her expression slowly changed to a dreaded one.

* * *

><p><strong>Dragon Language clarification:<strong>

_Laz an fur lok_ - Is something wrong?

_drak karn_ - friend

irck-kuro - Ice fiend

_hauxerds_ - living hazards

_Surn ai_ - comrade

_fuz ohn_ - storm, tidal waves


	15. II - Discoveries

**Hey we're back after some time off with Finals and shit - RKT**

**story will be slow due to other things.**

* * *

><p>Hazurfurn landed on the ice sheet he made in the middle of the ocean. They crossed the shore of Vale, and north to the islands surrounding it to a storm ridden part of the vast body of water. Logoed ships of the White Fang were drifting in their direction. The waves roared against them as they held on the mighty ruler's back as they floated in the sea.<p>

"There are reports of White Fang activity going where we are!" Rio shouted as he read from his holographic scroll, his armor phasing onto his body. He was having a hard time balancing reading his scroll and staying on the ice as the old wyvern kept creating king waves with every beat of his wings.

"Anything out of the ordinary?" Akaia shouted over the roaring waves.

"Positive." Rio replied, showing the scroll to Akaia, ten blinking red dots about a hundred miles from them. "We're looking at about almost eighty men to fight."

"_Viz ahnk, there is a strong disturbance in the world…. Someone is tampering with the psychic strand of fate._" Hazurfurn roared as they dismounted his back. "_The White Fang is seen off shore fifty miles and get to the relic before they do!_"

"What will you do?" Cyres shouted back as Hazurnfurn flapped up again.

"_Keep them at bay with an old friend of mine!_" He roared, taking off into the sky as he circled above the storm clouds.

Cyres placed her hands on the ice platform and forced her own powers to flow, creating a chute straight down to the ocean bottom, past the whirlpools and the crackling waters. Rio and Akaia seamed their helmets and Cyres and Mel had their own masks. She looked at Mel's pale face as she stared at her mask.

"One way go?" Akaia asked through their interconnected network as they looked down the deep chasm of ice.

"Lets go." Cyres jumped in first and Rio, then Mel and finally Akaia as she sealed the ice above her.

They landed on metal, air rushing around them as Cyres created a large ice bubble around them, pushing out water and exposing the ground. Mel lit up the carefully placed ice scones, highlighting the ancient hull around them. THe rusted hull was archaic, inscribed with unwashed runes and preserved paint of black and silver. There was a turret mounted on the top of the cockpit, a transport ship? But the only thing that was visible was one of it's mighty wings, the dented turret and the front mount. They moved around the side of the massive ship, looking for any identification. The runic hull hummed with potent energy that rivaled Rio and Akaia's own as they made their way to the submerged side. The metal danced with life as runes and letters started to glow softly.

_Leviathan_

Etched into it's side as the words danced to life before them.

"That's a _bright_ idea Akaia." Mel snickered. "That's your weapon, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Akaia replied.

* * *

><p>They walked over to the humming metal and Cyres paused as the others walked closer. Something was bothering her as they landed here not too long ago.<p>

"Something is odd here…" Her eyes narrowed under her mask as a tingling sensation ran down her back, making her shiver. "Something's alive…"

Her vision blurred for a moment as the world around her brightened for a second. Where the other member's of ROCK were going towards, there is a slowly erecting silver barrier.

"Hey, somethings blocking us." She heard Mel say as the girl ran into it again and again.

Cyres reached a conclusion as runes began dancing around the barrier against it.

"No wonder there is no Grimm and no wildlife around and on this…" Cyres looked around the ship. "This thing's _alive_."

She was snapped back to reality as Mel fell to her butt, and Akaia feeling around the invisible barrier.

"Guys." They heard Rio's voice as he was about at least almost a kilometer or two away from them since they were dwarfed by the ship itself. Where Rio was standing was at least half of another black and silver ship that was hidden partially into the rockbed. The untouched and cracked window hummed behind it as the strangely advanced design came to life.

"These things are still alive?" Mel asked as Akaia and Rio started to push against the force fields. Rio grunted as it flashed and threw him flat to his back before the glow faded again. The same thing with Akaia except further away since Leviathan and Behemoth sliced at it's shields.

"You don't say…" Rio shifted his helmet back before looking at his sister.

Cyres sighed and walked up to Leviathan's hull, in front of the barrier that literally repulsed everyone else back. She placed a gentle hand on the barrier, expecting a result that would send her back like the others.

_Suriz fen bach kul_

Instead an autonomous voice ringed in her mind. The hand that pressed against the glowing force field gave under her hand and permitted her to enter. She beckoned the shocked members to quickly follow her before the shields close again.

"It's not going to open forever you know." Akaia shouted as she waited for the other two to go through.

Once they entered the force field, they looked at the sealed deployment hatch, slightly dusty but sealed shut with a strange aura. Mel decided that it was the perfect to punch it- only to be flying back into the force field with a loud crackle.

"Good job idiot." Akaia sighed and unsheathed her dual claws, neatly cutting the sealed edged loose. The thick metal door fell to the ground, kicking up rock and silt to splash on them.

"Yuck." Mel muttered as they looked inside the dark transport hull. "This is a new coat."

It was oddly moist inside, the metal structure untouched by age and the wiring a machines were still intact. Rio placed a thick metal hand on the side of the hull, feeling the smooth, mastercrafted metal under his fingers.

"This is awesome…" Mel looked around and felt the ancient extraterrestrial metal. She fiddled with the old wirings as a strange clicking hummed as Mel inserted a loose wire back.

A low rumble shook the entire ship, making them pause and look beyond the clear ice they were all encased in.

"Let's get going, before the White Fang get here." Akaia ordered. The unblemished unidentified metal interior gave off a strange glow as they continued deeper into the ship.

They further they went, the creepier it became, strange voices echoed around them as the moist metal reflected their lights. A large door was blocking them from entering the final room. Rio fired a earthshaking round at it, only for it to contact a shimmering shield like the outside. Cyres pressed her hand against the shield again, forcing it open, shattering the barrier into shards of energy onto the hatched floor. Mel took the chance to punch a hole in the metal door as Rio pried it apart with his armor working on full throttle.

"I don't like this place sis." Rio shuddered slightly as they walked into a large room full of blinking cylindrical capsules. "There's a bad vibe about it."

There were about thirty of them or forty at least, all silent and sealed shut with a layer of frost. The room itself was large and intimidating, the walls were decorated with a golden two headed aquila, faded flags that was black and silver. A runic carved silver throne sat under the large banner, a person was slumped in the throne, protected by a shield of energy as well.

"Tell me about it." Akaia looked at the strange person in the throne, the faded black robe had the reminiscent logo of her symbol. "I'm starting to forget what we are here for."

"Yep." Mel said, shuffling around before kicking something with her boot. Looking down she saw a human skull with a bionic eye, some metal tentacle arms sticking underneath it. She picked it up, oddly heavy for it's size. The light from her mask reflected on a strange silver I with a skull in the center.

The eye started glowing making Mel screamed, dropped it and jumped up into Akaia's arms. Instead of clattering to the ground it clicked and hovered, slowly reaching Mel's eye level, speaking in some clicks.

"What the-" Akaia said as it turned towards her, speaking in strange clicks. "Huh?"

"Sister?" Rio asked as it moved to him, the slender arms poking at the symbol on his left pauldron.

"It's a servant skull." Cyres said as she held it in her hand, the skull clicking more as it hovered away.

The room shook more as the metal groaned. Cyres and Akaia looked at one another and ran to the door opening. Rio and Mel shot out moments later as the skull began moving from machine to machine, more of the strange automation coming to life and started working on the machine.

Outside of the ice bubble was a large black serpent with a bone white mask of a Grimm. The rows of spines on its back scratched the ice as it fought against familiar submarines. It's clawed hands grasped at the closest before biting at another.

"Cyres, Mel get into the second ship," Akaia commanded. "We need these two things online if it can."

Mel and Cyres ran towards the second buried ship and bypassed the barrier, and Mel managed to heat the frozen door and open it without damaging it.

"For once you didn't break something." Cyres said to the girl as Mel only grunted and lit up the empty metal halls. Cyres ran ahead, unlocking the magic-sealed doors with some resistance. Each chamber unlike the old one which was filled with machines, this one held at least twelve pods on each side, at least twice the amount the other ship had in counts.

"The barriers here are stronger than the last one." Cyres muttered as Mel caught up with her, panting slightly as Cyres paused at the final, large brass door, etched with strange symbols that glowed as they approached. "And so is this one."

"Well," Mel poked the door with her metal gauntlets before smiling and cocking her fist back. "Let's smash through it!"

And Cyres only stepped aside to see that Mel was only thrown back several yards with sheer recoil and into a control panel.

"You're hopeless." Cyres facepalmed.


	16. Tribute to Monty Oum

Hey... RKT and MMC here... We heard about the loss and we too are deeply affected by it. He was our inspiration when we started this story.

His passing was too early in his life... But now he is in a better place.

here is our tribute to him.

- RKT&MMC

* * *

><p>ROCK sat around the fire pit in their room, heads low and eyes puffy or still shiny with tears. Akaia's eyes dimmed as the machine drowned itself in sorrow. Not because RWBY or JPNr- rather that JPNR was missing a member.<p>

Mel's face was buried into the mechanical leader's chest, sniffling as Akaia herself was shaking. The glowing lens dimmed as for the first time in forever, she cried, even if there were no present tears.

Cyres was being held by Rio, her ice blue eyes bloodshot and swollen from the tears. Rio was no better, his eyes were bloodshot as well, making the once striking gray eyes dull.

"That wasn't supposed to happen…" Rio muttered the only straight sentence in the past hour to his sister. His glassy eyes met the gleaming optics behind the gray lens.

"No one did…" Akaia muttered softly, her voice cracked like the first time she tried to speak in this from. "Not me, Ruby, or J-Jaune- anyon-"

"Bloody hell, no one did!" Cyres's muffled voice shouted from Rio's chest. Akaia shut up at that, lowering her head to rest it on top of Mel's head.

Silence rose between them before Mel spoke in a meek voice.

"Should we visit them?" Mel asked, removing herself from Akaia's chest. No one argued against the idea as they shakily stood up, their legs shaking to the point where their aura had to kick in to strengthen them as the walked towards the door.

"G-Guys!" Mel's voice broke for the upteenth time as she swiped tears away. The rest of ROCK soon filed in. RWBY and what was left of JPNR were holding on to one another for comfort, while Nora was crying hysterically out of all of them. Mel and Cyres started to bawl again as they embraced the two grieving teams.

"We're sorry." Those were the only two words they could muster before turning their head down in grief in the room full of sobs and dull eyes. Full of broken hearts and clenched throats.

His passing was before his intended time.

"Nora," Akaia spoke softly, but only saw the teary eyes lock to hers. "He's in a better place now..."

_This isn't a time to grieve, this marks a time in history to remember our heroes and pay tribute for what they have contributed. _


	17. II - Revival

**We are back, sorry for the long time off, RKT was busy with sports and etc, anyways here's a large chapter to make up for lost time.**

**Warning: WH40K will be a part of this story for a while, just with the characters here and a bit more.**

* * *

><p>Cyres and Mel tried to open the final brass doors, by the magic sealed it shut to the point it could be a solid piece of metal held by two sets of large metal hinges.<p>

"Why. Won't. You. Open." Mel punched it again and again. "Like a vag-"

Cyres ducked as the last blow rebounded the trenchcoat girl into a steel wall above her head.

"Language, Melanie." Cyres spoke calmly as the girl fell from her deep body indent and onto the machinery below her with a loud crash. Groaning, Mel flipped her off as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Piss off." Mel grumbled as she laid on the broken machine like a bed.

"On the bright side, you managed to activate the something." Cyres spoke up as she looked at the glowing door, metal gears churning slightly. Then she paused to look at the girl that still laid there.

Mel only groaned in response as elf ignored her.

"Whatever pointy ears."

"Oh hush, you."

* * *

><p>"You know sis, I think they should hurry." Rio pointed to the cracking on the ice wall as rumbles shook the entire seafloor. "Because you know we're going to drown, yes?"<p>

And the rumbling only grew more violent over time.

Akaia only sighed, about to say something when a chunk of ice knocked the side of her head, sending the machine face first into the mud with a splat..

"You don't say." Akaia mumbled from the mud. Rio only chuckled before squatting slightly and poking Akaia with Vanquisher.

"Aren't you going to get up from the mud?" He asked, still poking her with a blunt end. "Mel's gonna-"

"I've always wanted to know ocean soil more." Akaia's sarcasm was evident in her voice. Rio couldn't help but snicker. "And shut up, Rio."

He held out a hand for Akaia, who accepted it and pulled her messy from off the floor and onto her feet.

"It's called silt by the way, not ocean soil." Rio said in a matter-of-factly way. Which only let Akaia smack his helmeted head with Behemoth, sending him to the ground this time. "Ow…"

"So how does silt feel now?" Akaia held back a laugh. Rio only gave a thumbs up from his position on the seafloor.

"It feels squishy and like a foam b-." Rio paused for a second. "Did you just make a pun?"

"That is the total opposite of how I would describe silt Rio… And yes I just did"

"...I will stab you after this."

Akaia only waved her hand and placed her other hand on her armored hip.

"Try."

And then Rio threw mud into Akaia's face, and the large shoulders slumped slightly as gray eyes peered through the muck and glared at him.

* * *

><p>Mel punched the door again and again, but the only metal that was giving in was Vulcan's. Cyres was busy pacing back and forth around the hall, mumbling to herself about ways to open the door when a tremor interrupted her.<p>

"Can't you hit any faster?" Cyres yelled as she looked to the opening of the ship to see large cracks forming on the ice dome.

"Can't you think any faster?" Mel yelled back. Cyres huffed and resumed her pacing, more vigorously than minutes ago. This time she looked more afraid than concerned.

"If we don't get in, we'll be underwater in less than half an hour." Cyres calculated and briefly looked at Mel, knowing the girl is afraid of water to a large scale.

And by large is like a cat that is pushed into a bathtub of water.

"I got it!" Mel's shout interrupted her train of thought as the screeching of the metal door opened. Cyres was actually surprised that the small girl managed to punch a Mel-sized hole in the thick door. "Dude, the door's like three feet thick."

She wasn't wrong about that either, whatever this ship was, it was not a supply runner. The area inside was humongous. Then it struck them.

* * *

><p>It was the command ship. At least sixty more pods lined the wall as there was a control deck with offlined machines. There were faded banners of all kinds, a two headed eagle, crossed swords, and others- mounted on the wall. What shocked them the most is the silver eagle throne in the back, there was a large humanoid machine that was sitting on it, wires connecting to all parts of the body, a large silver and black hammer resting next to it. In front of the sitting machine was a pillar that is about Akaia's chest height with a golden cube.<p>

The oddest thing about it is that the symbol is identical to Akaia's and Rio's own.

The moment they walked inside the room, they were greeted by a sharp crack and the entire thing starting to shake, throwing them off their feet. Akaia and Rio warped to them moments later, both dripping with water.

"It broke didn't it?" Mel looked at them as the siblings simultaneously pointed outside as sea water began leaking.

But what did not reassure them is the submarines that were bursting through the ice wall, their heads plugging the leak as countless men in those aquatic shits trudged through the water towards them.

"I don't know if we should stay here, or go out there." Rio gripped Vanquisher slightly harder than he would. "Or rather Mel."

They turned to the girl behind them, whose glance only flickered between them repeatedly.

"It's your call, we can fight here or we can surrender." Akaia said as she looked as the men were trying to break the psychic barrier.

"We know you hate water, and not to burden you, but you can make the call." Cyres spoke up after. There was a large explosion as they felt the barrier falter slightly and the sounds of boots on metal was nearing. "Mel?"

They turned around to see the fiery girl on the furthest side of the room, away from them.

And that's when they noticed that water was seeping into the room they were in.

"Looks like we have some challenge before us." The three turned to see two people in front of them, flanked by numerous uniformed men. It was the one on the left, she had green hair and strange looking green weapon that folded out to dual kusarigamas.

"You can deal with them Emerald, I'll go get the relic." The one on the right with silver hair said, he had silver boots that looks like the same function of Yang's glove.

"Me?" The girl, Emerald nearly screeched. "Why don't you get it Mercury?"

Akaia rolled her eyes as she looked at Cyres, who reached behind her to grab the small golden statue on the pedestal when a bullet halted her.

"How about we deal with these first?" The one on the right, Mercury spoke as Emerald lowered her weapon slightly. "Dibs on the rhino on the right."

They can hear Rio briefly complaining about everyone calling him a rhino because of his armor.

"I call…" RCK readied themselves as they saw the emerald eyes peer around before settling on someone other than them.

"The pipsqueak in the back." Emerald smiled before dashing off faster then how they could react.

Cyres was off after her the instant Emerald brushed her robe. Rio nearly missed the chance to block a explosive round to his face with a heavy armored arm.

* * *

><p>And that left Akaia with every-<p>

"Damnit." Akaia grumbled as she found herself facing the army that was before her. Unsheathing Behemoth and Leviathan, Akaia charged at the men that was in the vicinity.

Her claws sliced through weapons with incredible ease as if the metal were warm butter and her weapons were the hot knife. Instead of killing them like she normally would, she simply knocked them unconscious with her aura-extended blades before turning briefly to see how Rio and Cyres were holding up.

Rio was holding quite well with the speed of the silver-haired boy.

And Cyres was holding off Emerald as best as she can to protect the Mel that was too busy shaking to notice.

She heard a cry behind her and quickly ducked the blade that would've decapitated her. She thrusted Behemoth up, sending the three blades through the roof of his mouth.

But then a surge of electricity sent waves of pain through her systems. Before she even had time to cry out in pain, she lost all sensation to her body.

And it was hell, almost twenty times the pain of being torn apart and reconnected live. Her vision flashed warnings as the lenses flickered and closed into black and her systems shut down instantly from the overload.

* * *

><p>Rio jumped over a kick sent by the silver-haired boy, bringing down Vanquisher as well, his glaive cleaving through the ground that would be where his head was seconds ago. He swung his armored fist- only to be met with the steel boot.<p>

And the other steel boot was met with Rio's thick pauldron. Rio only smiled under his helmet as he brought up his left arm between them and fired a round of his pressurized, dust infused bullets. The explosion was hard enough to send Mercury into the wall across the room.

Priding himself for a moment, he spared a glance at his sister-

And watched as one of the henchmen sneak up behind her and stick a blinking object onto her back.

EMP

"Akaia!" Rio shouted, but he was too late, the bomb detonated, sending a brishint flash of light as electricity danced all over his sister's from making the machine spasm a little before the eye blinked before going dark, slumping over her standing from.

"Heads up rhino." Rio forgot about his opponent before turning around to see the muzzle of the gun-boot in his face.

"Nighty night." Was all Rio heard as his vision went blank as he saw the flash and felt the impact.

* * *

><p>Cyres panted slightly, frost seeping between the cracks of her helmet as angry ice blue eyes peered at the girl in front of her.<p>

"Mel, don't worry, I got this." Cyres whispered to the girl behind her as she shifted Icentooth and her shield. She felt sorry for the girl, she was deathly afraid of water because of what happened to her in the past and it left a permanent spark of fear to the point where she can't handle water fully.

Their eyes met, icy blue to striking red eyes.

"Let's dance," Emerald grinned as Cyres only shifted her footing slightly to a more favorable defensive position- shield in front and sword held like a spear or lance.

And this is no exception, she was fine at a lake where it was crystal clear- but here, surrounded by ocean water, miles deep underwater.

It's scary to think that's going on through Mel's head.

Her shield blocked one of the kusarigamas and she kicked the feet from the green haired girl. But the other one fired a shot at her face which her helmet took the brunt of, and dazed her momentarily. Growling, Cyres thrusted Icentooth upwards, slicing a thick clump of green hair as she smacked her with her ice shield. Emerald's foot collided with her shield shoulder, making her drop her guard enough for the green girl to do a backflip and kick Cyres in the face. But the icy girl sent up a layer of ice to soften her landing before kicking up water in the green haired girl's face.

A loud bang and a sounds of electricity cracking caught her attention as she looked in time to see Akaia slumping over herself and Rio being bursted into the far side of the room.

Wham!

Cyres was slammed into the ground, causing some water to seep into her helmet slightly.

* * *

><p>"I got the relic!" They faintly heard Mercury shout over the dripping water. There was the large cube in his hand and the water sloshing around their ears. "What the hel-"<p>

And it sounds like someone being punched across the face with a metal fist.

And with the sounds of a person being smashed against the metal wall.

It is probably Mel.

Rio was the first to snap out of his inky darkness, his cracked vision blinked a little before clearing to see his sister still slumped over herself where the men that were still alive were busy trying to pry open the frozen pods.

"How is this girl still fight-" He briefly heard Mercury yell out before fire flashed on the corners of his vision. Apparently Mel found a way to fight for now and they were getting a hot beating from her. Mel's eyes were glowing like fire-

And she was on fire.

The girl that was afraid of water was dancing on the steam she created, bobbing and weaving through bullets and swings as if it was an ice rink.

Mercury and Emerald barely had time to respond to the attacks, often finding themselves blinded by hot steam or a burning metal fist.

Little did they all notice a strange gray glow from the throne behind them all.

* * *

><p>Cyres opened her eyes to find herself staring at the cracked ceiling, her vision clearing up to her liking as she sat up, emptying her helmet of the irritating water that sloshed at her ears.<p>

In front of her was Mel, handling pretty much an army on her own, and two powerful opponents without any fear what was happening.

Cyres had some fear running down her back, like Rio or Akaia, if she was awake. Mel's eyes were like fire, and literally engulfed in fire. That is when she is in a power hyped from, ignoring her fears to do the indescribable.

In other words, going berserk.

Her metal hands had blood sizzling on them, her trenchcoat was stained with crimson and signed by her own fire.

Until Mercury managed to fire a round in her face, the momentum sending her back a few steps, halting the rage slightly- enough for Emerald to hook her weapons around Mel's neck and throw her back.

Into the water- the weapons pinning her down in the rising pool.

They were drowning her. The fire Mel gave off was extinguished as the thrashing stopped as well.

But her metal hands managed to tear the fanged gunblade from her and shot back up, tackling the silver-haired boy to the ground, her fist raised and ready to pummel him to death.

Well, she almost did if it were not for his aura that sent her back to the ground, knocking her head against the metal.

"I will kill that bitch." She heard Emerald snarl, rubbing her sore jaw and grabbing her gunblades and walking over to the dazed girl. "And I will kill you- the first of of the team."

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

Cyres rolled onto her feet, ignoring the world that was swimming around her as she sees the tan girl raising one of her weapons, ready to impale Mel onto the gleaming green blade of hers.

Looking briefly at Rio, she realized that she was the only one that can moved (besides Akaia, she's still out).

And ran at them.

* * *

><p>Mel's eyes were blurry- partially because she was in water, partially because she smashed her head onto the metal steps.<p>

"And I will kill you- the first of the team." She saw the glint of the green blade.

Her mind went blank as she tried to blink the fuzz out of her eyes, but her body would not respond, with the pain of the burns sending blinding pain through her small body.

Shutting her eyes, she waited for the steel to taste her own blood.

But the only sound that reached her ears were the splitting of metal and flesh with is sickening squelch. Adding a grunt of pain.

"Huh?" She heard the confused voice as someone's arm landed in her vision. Slightly bloodied bone white gauntlets, blue robes-

Blue robes?

Mel slowly turned her head as a drop of something blue landing on her shoulder.

"You're okay... Not hurt." Mel froze as she turned to see the icy blue eyes peer back at her at such a close distance with clearly written in pain. She trailed her shocked eyes down a bit as she felt something drip into her exposed arm.

Besides realizing the Cyres was half leaning on her and only holding herself up with her elbows, she was grunting s little.

There was a gaping hole in her chest and it looked like a cannon ripped through her as the metal around the wound were jaggedly splayed.

And what surprised her was that the blood was blue, not red. Confirmed by the thin line of blue that dribbled from her lips.

"Cyres?" Mel called out meekly towards the girl hovering over her.

"You owe my if, I make it..." Cyres whispered faintly, smiling slightly, gently poking Mel's forehead. "Idiot."

With that, Cyres landed heavily on top of Mel as the two blades were yanked from her back. Without moving too much, she watched as Cyres gave a short cough before her eyes drifted closed.

"Cyres!" Mel buckled slightly in surprise as she took on the full weight of the icy queen. She gently pushed Cyres to the side as she looked straight up at Emerald and Mercury who were hovering over her like vultures.

* * *

><p>"Two down, two to go." Mercury gave a smirk. Mel looked at the blue blood that came from her wound, still surprised by how normal blood is red, but Cyres is entirely different, it was blue like her ice. Though to makes things weirder, her blushes are pink.<p>

"Good job, now let me do the honors." A new voice piped behind them all, making them turn around to see a very familiar curly haired boy with a shotgun in hand.

Browne.

Mel watched as he took the cube from Mercury and walked over to the throne. "I always wondered what you might be."

"You sure you know what you're doing, Browne?" Emerald asked as he rotated the cube.

"Of course."

He walked up to the machine as the cube glowed a silver light as it reacted, the machine's chest plate was churning slightly. A smile of glee appeared on his face.

"I, will make you mines!" He plunged the cube into its chest as a bright light enveloped them all. And then the boy was blown back across the room.

Systems activate, Astartes awakening log 2390.

The entire ship rumbled as the light died down, the lights blinked on the machines as a humm from the wires crackled and detached. The gray glowed slightly as machine slowly stood up, the single red eye glowing as the winged helm turned slightly. It was covered in thick, etched black and silver armor that hissed and groaned as the plates shifted and adjusted itself. Silver seals and fire patterns adorned the black of the armor. A translucent shadowy cloak unfurled on its back.

It easily towered over Browne, who only stood up to it's abdomen. It's mechanical hand whirred as it picked up the hammer beside it- the hammerhead was crackling with electricity as the metal hand clenched around the worn leather grip. His gaze stopped short at the boy. Cold red eye focusing curiously on the human in front of him who was jumping with joy.

"It worked!" He cried, running up to it. "I have reactivated this to help us!"

It only blinked and continue to stare down Browne. The Faunus boy pointed at ROCK.

"Now, attack them." Browne said in glee as Emerald and Mercury looked at each other.

"_Ne, shurt istbol..._" It's deep, resonating voice had a mechanical ring to it. It shifted on its feet, hammer lowered slightly.

"Uh, Browne, I don't think it speaks English." Emerald pointed out as Browne only let out a groan of fustration.

"Are you stupid? Speak our language." He said, banging his shotgun at the machine 's chest. "I guess you shall be called Retard I."

It did not budge. Patience thinning, Browne swung it at its head, the stock of his shotgun turning into a mini scythe as it neared its winged head. He was about to pull the trigger -

But it was halted by the armored mechanical hand and then crushed the blade as it tore the stock from the barrel. But not before the gun went off, striking the metal face.

To their surprise, the dust infused blast only created sparks on its metal.

"_I am Mordred, Primarch of the Imperial Shadows._" He growled before grasping the warhammer, enveloping it in dark matter and swung it in an arc of black fire. "_And you have disturbed our Realm!_"

And the faunus's head was flying across the room as his body was dissolved in seconds.

"_Sa'han ven Kuron_!" His voiced roared, the three pods on either side of him defrosted and cracked. The pods bursted in glass and ice, landing into a kneeling position as their red lenses blinked on.

Their armor identical, black and silver with a wrought flame pattern, adorned with weird cross seals and drawings of death, their red lenses turning on as black material less cloaks fanned about. Their dragon like visage looked at each other before standing straight up- rivaling the machines height, if not slightly shorter. They looked around in slight confusion before Mordred made a hand signal.

"_Intruders…_" One of them with a plumage on their helmet growled.

They pulled their weapons from the shadows around them- a large black and gold plated pistol thats as large as a person's head and a long shadowy sword that had a silver, wolf dragon handle, plated with gold.

"_Tsarit_!" Mordred command, to the rest of the humans before them. They growled and then dissipated into wisps.

And then people started screaming as they were impaled by a shadowy figure or had their head shot off.

Then the Machines eye met Mel's own ruby ones.


	18. II - Revealations

**Hey, this is RKT,\... Yeah, I'm pretty much running the story now. Well. Here goes nothing.**

* * *

><p>"Greetings." Was probably the only thing Mel could think of at the time as the giant machine approached her and looked beyond her, at the miniature war zone, scattered with blood and corpses. But it only grunted and walked past Mel, pistons hissing with every step it takes, towards the fighting.<p>

"_Get them out of here._" He spoke in a low voice as a bullet grazed his shoulder. He turned suddenly as his cloak fanned around him, hammer sending arcs of electricity as he struck a White Fang member with the hammer resuming his target to dust before turning back to her. "_Melanie Okumura, daughter of Mother Phaenix._"

And then a loud boom alerted them all as water surged in, making Mel almost latch onto Mordred for safety. Oddly the machine only slammed it's hammer's head into the water, sending arcs of black, shadowy vines that made way towards the sealed pods on the walls that lined the halls.

One by one they bursted as more and more of the heavily armored figures fell to the ground. They all looked the same; black and silver trimmed armor, some with beaked helmets or with an enclosed one with a skull on the forehead. They all had a large gun of some kind in their hands.

A couple of them were slender and shorter like Cyres, they had black robes on, and on top of the robes were a silver cuirass that was almost shaped like a chest and there was a gray stone that was implanted on their upper left. Their helmets were slightly different, constantly shifting with the writhing shadow tendrils as they grasped a slender long sword.

They all looked in confusion of a brief second before they picked up on the issue and joined the fray with the six that was already engaged.

"_Do I have to tell you again?_" Mordred's voice was low and slightly irritated. "_Get them out, I'll take care of them here._"

"How do you know my name?" Mel asked as she stood atop the pedestal where the cube once sat. "And why are you so concerned about us.

"_I will answer later, your questions are meaningless at the moment._" He grunted, kicking up water as he danced around bullets and blades. Mel took no time than to run over to Akaia and drag her heavy metal body from the water she was submerged in. Then to Rio and slapping him awake.

"Yo, get your sister, we're getting out of here!" Mel yelled in his ear, making him jump to his feet as he took the scene in.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked before Akaia was thrown at him.

"Later, we have to go!" Mel shouted as she kneed next to Cyres. She pressed her ear close to the pale girl's lips, straining for a breath.

But then felt mechanical arms pick them up, she was about to turn and punch the person, but halted once she saw the red lense of the six figures that was with Mordred in the start. Another one held Rio and Akaia over each shoulder.

"We were sent to escort you all to the surface." The one holding Mel and Cyres spoke. Her voice behind the helmet was low and husky from the helmet filters. "Prepare for jump."  
>A crackling sound was heard as a portal opened up below them.<p>

* * *

><p>The sounds of wind was rushing in their ears as they opened their eyes to see the orange skies and hearing the roar of the ocean and the rocking of a flat floating object on water. Not to mention the soggy clothes or armor with ice pressed against their backs.<p>

Mel was the first to wake up, her eyes darting around and adjusting to the harsh sunset glare as she shivered when her soggy shirt was pasted to her back. She looked over to Akaia who was still knocked out with Rio on the side.

But she looked over to Cyres where the girl was deathly pale and still bleeding fresh blue blood. Mel took the time to find the latches on the damaged metal cuirass. Fumbling a little, she found them soon enough and carefully peeled the sticky metal off the robes she wore.

She cringed as the undid the clasped dark stained robe, exposing the lightweight plated shirt Cyres always wore under. The area around the wound was a spiderweb of blue as some of the blue blood still dripped.

Mel pressed her ear close to Cyres's mouth as one of her hands were pressed to the pale girl's neck. There was a small and weak pulse. At least she is alive still.

Her hand brushed against something cold and solid. Looking down, Mel gasped as she saw ice crystals forming around her wounds, slowly spreading over her limbs as well.

"What the hell?" Mel heard Akaia's staticy voice come from the right bringing her attention away from Cyres for the time.

"You're awake." Mel smiled as she hovered over the machine being.

"Yeah, awake and paralyzed." Akaia mumbled as they both can see the warning symbol that says DISCONNECTED. "EMP fried all my limb and back motors..."

Mel smiled more and nudged her metal leg, making Akaia glare at her.

"If you push me in the water I will bite you and drag you down with me." Akaia growled before Mel leaned in and gave her a kiss on her nose piece.

* * *

><p>Waiting is not any of their virtues. Mel was busy grumbling miserably on the hospital bed she was assigned to, wanting to get out sooner and run around to create havoc. Cyres was awake to her left and is busy looking at her nails. Rio is awake and engrossed in a history textbook from one of the giant piles of books Blake left him with earlier. Akaia is it enjoying the feeling of being armor less and having wires hooked up to her back. But she's enduring it anyways for sanity's sake.<p>

No one questioned how Mordred is in there anyways.

"I'm not surprised you're here, sir." Akaia tapped her metal chin before Mordred shrugged and began walking around the room. Hissing pistons and metal creaked as he shrugged his armored shoulders.

"_Well being inactive for millions of years is quite different than living for millions._" He simply replied before pausing at the window and looked down at the courtyard where the students walked about to classes.

"Seriously who are you and why did General Ironwood want you?" Rio spoke up next which granted a sigh from the machine.

Mordred finally turned to face them.

"_Where do I begin_?" He mumbled before pulling out a small circular disk that's as big as his giant metal hand. It began glowing as images blinked into the air. It was a holographic tablet. The image processed into multiple images: one was a ice covered landscape, the other was a building of some kind and the last one was a picture of the galaxy. He cleared his throat.

"_As I said days ago I am the Primarch or founder of an ancient legion that resided on a moon about sixty million light years from this galaxy, called Lycanus- our Homeworld. We have about several hundreds of thousands in men, woman and vehicles at our disposal. We spanned for several Galaxies several hundred million years ago. Including yours," _He pointed a metal finger at Mel_. _

_"Melanie Okumura, your place of origin was in the Milky Way Galaxy, on a hospitable planet called Earth. Your mother is called Mother Phaenix, a fire goddess with a bubbly personality. Your father was a blacksmith of a small village- real marvelous workmanship. How did you get here is unknown- the time space paradox is confusing as your travel in wormholes and such... Anyways, you, like your mother, have the same tendency to prank and create chaos wherever you go and bear the same work that your father had. Your mother told me to find you, Cyres Fulgrin, Rio and Akaia Kilian-_"

A nurse bursted into the room and as soon as she stepped one foot inside Mordred vanished like he was never there.

"_I'll tell you the rest on a later date..._" They seemed to have heard him whisper.

The team looked at one another in confusion briefly before turning to the nurse.

"... Is something wrong?" She said to them as they continued to stare at them like they were crazy.

"Nope." Rio blinked. "Just fine…"

* * *

><p>A few days later they were released back to their dorm to recover after getting an okay from the headmaster to remember what happened and write a four page report as a team.<p>

The moment they got through the metal door the first thing they did is sigh in relief. Mel instantly belly flopped onto her bed. Rio and Cyres lounged on the couch while Akaia sat herself at the holographic computer, fingers pounding away at keys.

"Do we really have to write it?" Mel groaned and rolled over on her bed.

"Yes Mel." Cyres responded as she sat at the edge of her bed, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"You're not going to get yourself out of this." Akaia responded, her tapping beginning to slow as she glanced at Mel, then turned to her screen again to return to her fast paced typing.

"I'm no good at that kind of stuff." Mel sighed again, dropping her head off the side of her bed, allowing her hair to tumble down.

"Then I suppose you need a head start." Cyres muttered to her, seeming more like a question than a demand.

"Heck no! I never said I was going to actually _do _it." Mel sat up, a little too quickly, since she wobbled slightly before regaining her balance and correct line of vision.

"We have to." Akaia grumbled, even though she seemed fairly engrossed in her typing.

"Find me in the kitchen," Mel glanced around before adding "or somewhere."

She leaped off her bed and left the room with a soft click of the door.

"Did she actually leave?" Rio blinked. Cyres and Akaia nodded before Cyres stood and walked over to their bathroom. She closed the door after entering and within minutes, the siblings heard the rush of the shower water.

"Rio," Akaia pointed at the word filled page with her metal thumb. "Your turn."

Rio closed his book and set it down on the table in front of him and grabbed the mug of tea and walked towards the computer when Akaia stood up and walked across the room to the bathroom. Cyres exited the bathroom, already fully clothed and she held a towel continuing to dry her damp hair.

"Hey." Cyres dropped her wet towel at the armrest of their sofa, then walked over to Rio, who was already busy typing at the computer.

"Hey." Rio replied without looking back, his attention set at the screen in front of him. "It's your turn once I'm done, alright?"  
>"Sure." Cyres sighed and looked at the door debating if she should go after Mel or not. "You think Mel'll come back soon?"<p>

Rio only response was a grunt and a shrug of his shoulders. Cyres heard the rush of water from behind the bathroom doors and stood up.

"On second thought, I'll go look for her."


End file.
